Destiny and the Dragon
by Blue Eyes Shining Dragon
Summary: When a mysterious young girl enters his life, Seto Kaiba finds himself pitted against a dangerous enemy as he learns more about himself and the origin of the Blue Eyes White Dragon...
1. Default Chapter

Destiny and the Dragon  
  
Author's note: Well, it's been awhile, but I'm back in the fanfiction business. You may (most likely not) know me as Metal Garurumon/Dragonball#5. At long last, the urge to write has become too strong. However, I have a new computer, a new e-mail address, and frankly, I just don't feel like restarting my old profile. I do hope you enjoy my first foray into fanfiction in two years.  
  
Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).  
  
Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities(in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British). Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on. Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime. This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur. However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world. In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time. Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past. Enjoy.  
  
I want to run away, I want to know the truth I want to know the answers, I want to shut the door and open up my mind. -"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park  
  
Chapter 1: Shadows of the Past By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon  
  
Seto Kaiba sat in a large red chair in his living room, staring distantly at the lap-top computer that sat in front of him. He had been working late, as usual, on a new Kaiba Corp. project. It was intended to be an update of the VR program he had been forced to abandon after interference from the Big 5, his former board of directors. Seto decided to check his watch to see just how late he had been working. "2:00 A.M. Not too bad..." he thought sarcastically. A conversation he had had with his little brother Mokuba flashed back to him then. He had been putting the younger Kaiba to bed. "When are you going to bed, Seto?" The boy had asked.  
"I'm not really sure, Mokuba," Seto answered, "work's been pretty heavy lately."  
Mokuba frowned as Seto lifted the covers of his bed over the raven- haired boy. "You really need to get more sleep, Seto; it's not healthy to stay up this late so often."  
Seto was silent. He wasn't sure how to respond. Mokuba had been bringing his lack of sleep up quite often as of late, and Seto had managed to dodge answering for a good while now. He didn't wish to confront his younger brother on the topic, because he knew it would only lead to a long and heated argument. However, he also knew that Mokuba would find a way to get him to answer eventually. His little brother had a talent for getting Seto to tell him the truth, even when it could prove to be less than favorable to do so. He had decided to push his luck by grinning and leaving. His luck had held, and Mokuba had not pushed the topic further. Now, however, Seto was beginning to see his brother's point. Normally, Seto spaced his late nights out to avoid burning himself out, but after the events of Battle City, he had decided to push himself harder, and he was suffering as a result. Without even realizing it, Seto's focus soon began to fade, his eyes closed, and the young CEO drifted to sleep...  
  
The desert was windy that day, sand blowing everywhere. Through the noise of the winds and the fury of the sand storms stood a lone figure, a young man with brown hair and blue eyes. Normally, he wore a white cape and blue-gold armor. However, the heat of the desert had convinced him to discard such trivialities as those. Instead, he now wore only his elongated blue-gold headdress and baggy white pants. Even the sandals the man normally wore were gone. In front of the man was a titanic stone tablet, upon the front of which was the carving of a dragon. In his arms, the blue-eyed boy held a young girl whose skin was pale, whose hair was silver, and whose eyes were closed in permanent sleep. The young boy looked sorrowfully at the girl he cradled in his arms, whispering, "Kisara...I'm so sorry it had to end like this..."  
  
Seto's eyes snapped open immediately. A dream. The dream. The same dream he had been having ever since the end of Battle City. "It was longer this time, though..." Seto noted as his eyes wandered the living room he had fallen asleep in. As Seto chided himself mentally for falling asleep in the middle of the room, he noticed the clock: It was nearly 6:55 in the morning! Seto cussed out loud, realizing that if he didn't hurry up, he would be late for school. Seto closed his lap-top quickly, tucked it under his arm, and rushed to his room. Gathering his school supplies in a hurry, he called out, "Carla, I need you to wake Mokuba up and get him ready for school!" Carla, one of many maids Seto kept around the house, heard him and went to Mokuba's room. Seto hastily dressed into his school uniform, put on his back-pack, and ran out the door.  
  
It was Lunch break at Domino High, and as usual, Seto sat by himself at his own cafeteria table, reading one of his many books. Normally, Seto found it easy to simply go through novels like this in only a few hours. Now, however, he could barely focus on it at all. His eyes felt heavy, his mind clouded. Images of the dream from the previous night kept flashing to him, and the name that had been revealed to him in the dream. "Kisara..." He whispered out loud without even fully realizing it.  
At a table close by, Yugi Motou stared curiously at the brooding CEO. The spiky-haired boy had always felt a pang of sympathy for Seto, ever since Mokuba had told Yugi and his friends of Seto's awful past with Gozaburo Kaiba, Seto and Mokuba's abusive step-father. Watching him from afar, Yugi noted the distant look in Seto's eyes, the antithesis to the young CEO's normal focus. A nearby voice brought Yugi back to reality. "Hey, Yugi, are you still in there?"  
Yugi turned to face the speaker, Jounouchi Katsuya, Yugi's close friend. "Sorry, Jou. I was just thinking..." Yugi started, but stopped before finishing his sentence.  
Jounouchi and Seto had never gotten along well. Ever since they had met, the two had practically been at each other's throats every time they saw each other. Yugi was unsure Jonouchi would be understanding of Yugi's train of thought on Seto. After considering it for a few moments, Yugi decided to go for it. "Well, I know this is going to sound odd, but I was thinking about Kaiba." Yugi said nervously.  
Jounouchi stared at his friend with wide eyes. "Yeesh, I didn't know you bended that way, Yugi."  
Yugi's face turned bright crimson, and it took all his power not to scream when he replied, "Not THAT kind of thinking, Jou."  
It was Jounouchi's turn to blush. "Oops...sorry about that, Yugi."  
Yugi sighed, and then continued. "That's alright, Jou. Anyway, I just couldn't help but notice that he looks so...well, so distant."  
Jounouchi looked at the blue-eyed boy. He examined Seto for a few moments, and then returned his gaze to Yugi. "No kidding. He looks like his body's here, but his brain's on vacation...not to say he had much of a brain to begin with." Jounouchi snickered at the last part of his sentence, earning a hard glare from Yugi.  
Jounouchi stopped snickering. "Either way, why do you care? I hate to break it to you, Yuig, but Kaiba isn't exactly your biggest fan."  
Yugi nodded. "I know, but this is just so unlike him, Jou. What do you suppose would cause him to act like this?"  
Jounouchi prepared to respond. However, he noticed Yugi was now staring at his sennen puzzle around his neck. Jounouchi knew this meant Yugi was communicating with Yami, the ancient spirit who resided in the puzzle's mystical confines. Thus, Jounouchi bit his tongue and remained silent. Within the mind-room split between Yugi and Yami, the two were conversing. "What do you think?" Yugi asked.  
Yami looked contemplative for a moment, then replied, "I'm not sure, Yugi. Kaiba has always been difficult to predict, even for me. However..."  
"However, what?"  
"However, I have sensed a strange energy recently. I don't know why, but something within me tells me it is linked to Kaiba."  
Yugi emerged from his conversation. Jounouchi immediately asked, "So, what does Yami think?"  
Yugi looked at his friend. "Yami isn't sure, Jou, but he says that he's been sensing a weird energy he thinks might have something to do with it."  
Jounouchi again looked towards Kaiba. "Weird energy, huh? I don't know, Yugi, it looks like he's just had one too many sleepless nights to me."  
Yugi now looked to Seto to see what Jounouchi meant. There, in plain view of everyone, was Seto Kaiba, bent over his lunch table asleep.  
Although neither Yugi nor Jounouchi had any way of knowing, Seto's sleep was in no way a peaceful one. Again, his mind was haunted by a dream, but this one was different then the one he had been having for so long...  
  
The High Priest Set stared angrily at the figure who stood across from him. "How could you?" He shouted, hatred dripping from every word. The person Set was shouting at held an expression of confusion. Dressed as regally as he was, it was hard not to tell this young boy was the pharaoh. "I don't understand, Set...why have you brought these accusations against me?" "Why? WHY? You, of all people, dare ask ME WHY?" The high priest's words rang through the large room the two opponents stood in. It was obviously an arena, for the whole room was empty save for a small platform in the absolute center. Behind each of the young men were large stone tablets, laid to the ground next to each other. "You killed them...YOU, my most trusted friend...you murdered them!" Set shouted venomously. He gripped the golden rod he held in his left hand tightly. "I swear, if I must die to do so, I will see you suffer for this betrayal!" The pharaoh stared intensely at Set. He sighed in exasperation, looking to the golden item that hung around his neck, a miniature upside-down pyramid composed of several interlocking pieces. "Very well, Set...if reason will not dissuade you, I have no choice but to use force!" Both the pharaoh's puzzle and the high priest's rod glowed a bright gold, and the tablets lined up behind them soon floated toward the arena...  
  
For the second time in less then twelve hours, Seto awoke with a start. This time, however, it was not on his own. Someone was shaking him awake. As Seto realized this, he immediately grew cross. "I swear, if it's that mutt Katsuya I'll..."  
Seto, however, never finished that thought. The instant he lifted his head, he realized Jounouchi was not the person who had awoken him. It was, instead, a young girl with silver hair, pale skin, and crystalline blue eyes, identical to Seto's. Seto's eyes widened, as the name he had heard in his dream last night came back to him. "Kisara..."  
Seto realized that, like before, he had said it out loud, almost involuntarily. The girl looked at him oddly, then responded, "Yes, that's my name? How did you know?"  
Seto looked dumbfounded, and was completely at a loss for words. "Think fast, or you're going to completely humiliate yourself!" Seto mentally scolded himself.  
Realizing she was a new student, Seto came up with the best excuse he could whip up. "I always check the profiles of new students coming to Domino High."  
"I really hope that one doesn't come back to haunt me." Seto thought.  
Kisara nodded. "I see. Well, I was just wondering, I'd heard you knew a lot about this school and this city, and I just moved here, so would you show me around?" She asked very quickly.  
Seto digested what she had just said. "Wait a second," he said, "you know who I am?"  
Kisara responded immediately. "Seto Kaiba, 18 year old CEO of Kaiba Corp., the world's leading game company." She blurted.  
Seto cocked an eyebrow. "You know who I am, and I'm the first person you think of to ask for help?" He asked.  
It was a question that sounded more callous than Seto intended, but this girl's behavior surprised him anyway. His reputation as the cold- hearted businessman preceded him everywhere he went. It was incredibly rare for anyone to even approach him, let alone go to him for help. Kisara, however, merely looked confusedly at him. "Yes. After all, as CEO of Kaiba Corp., which has a main building located here in Domino, I'd think you'd know the most of anyone here."  
Neither Seto or Kisara noticed that Yugi and Jounouchi were both watching their conversation. Jounouchi gave a low whistle. "Who's the babe, Yugi? And why's she talking to Kaiba?"  
Yugi laughed a bit, saying, "You're lucky Anzu isn't here, Jou."  
Jounouchi grinned. He and Yugi both knew Anzu would have killed Jounouchi for whistling and using the term "babe" to describe a girl. However, Jounouchi repeated his question. "What do you think she'd have to talk about to Kaiba, of all people?"  
Yugi shrugged. "You never can tell. I'm more interested in why Kaiba's actually talking with her."  
Jounouchi nodded. "You've got a point, Yugi. Kaiba isn't exactly the most social person at school, but you'd never be able to tell looking at him now."  
Again, Yugi looked to his sennen puzzle. Yami did not need Yugi to ask anything before providing an answer. "Seto does seem to be more open with this girl than normal. The only other person he's ever acted like this towards is..."  
"Mokuba." Yugi finished Yami's sentence.  
Yami nodded. "This girl...she feels familiar somehow, aibou." Yami said.  
Yugi looked puzzled at this. "Familiar? You don't suppose..."  
"It is possible, Yugi, that like Seto and yourself, she may somehow be related to my past. However, I don't know how."  
Yugi frowned at that. He and Yami had thought that, having obtained the three legendary Egyptian God cards during the Battle City tournament, they would finally be able to unlock the ancient memories that Yami had been struggling to remember. However, according to Ishizu, the God cards would not open the door to Yami's memories until the time was right. Thus, the two were forced to wait until the right time. "Hey, Kaiba's standing up!" Jounouchi said, snapping Yugi back to attention.  
Indeed, Seto was now standing in front of Kisara.  
"Very well then, Kisara, I'll meet you after school tomorrow." Seto said.  
Kisara gave a quick bow, said "Thank you.", and left.  
Seto stood there blinking for a few seconds. Then, his brain kicked in. "Wait a minute...did I just say YES?!" Seto screamed at himself.  
  
School was over now. However, the day was only just beginning for Bakura Ryou. He was dressed in a light-blue buttoned T-shirt, wearing a dark brown trench-coat over it with tan pants. The raggedy white-haired boy was on his usual route home when he felt a familiar sickness. It felt like it was in his stomach, it always did, but he knew where the pain was really coming from. It was his own mind. "Please...", he whimpered pathetically, gripping his stomach, "...please, not today...not now...".  
Alas, the event that had been going on for years now occurred once again. The golden dream-catcher-like object that hung around his neck began to glow, and soon, Bakura's features began to harden. His eyes darkened, his hair grew jagged. The spirit of the sennen ring was free, and quite interested in the events he had seen transpire earlier that day. "It seems the high priest has a new playmate." He chuckled.  
Changing his route, Yami Bakura instead ducked down into a nearby alley. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out a second golden item, this one the sennen eye. "Thus does the cycle start anew. I've been waiting so long for this moment..." He laughed maliciously.  
  
To be continued... 


	2. Renewed Bonds

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: I apologize for the format of the previous chapter.  I uploaded it as a Microsoft Word document, which apparently doesn't translate well to Fanfiction.net.  Thus, italics were normal, and sentences were grouped together where they shouldn't have been.  This one is HTML, so I hope it works right. 

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British).  Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on.  Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime.  This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur.  However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world.  In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time.  Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past.  Enjoy. 

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 2: Renewed Bond

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

            Yami Bakura grinned as he overlooked his room.  His door had been barred shut in the event that Bakura's father should return.  All the lights were off.  Several candles were arranged in a large circle in the center of the room.  In the center of the circle of candles was a pentagram painted in red lines.  _"Blood always _did _have such a perfect shade of red."_  The ancient thief chuckled maliciously.

            There was finally one last piece to the ritualistic set-up.  At the center of the pentagram was the sennen eye.  Yami Bakura sat down on the hardwood floor.  Closing his eyes, Yami Bakura began chanting in an unintelligible language.  As each word was spoken, the room shook ever so slightly.  With each chant, the blood that made the pentagram began to glow brighter.  At last, Yami Bakura stopped, the bizarre incantation complete.  The pentagram was glowing brighter than the candles, and the sennen eye in its center shined as well, engulfing even the pentagram's light in a field of golden rays.  Yami Bakura looked directly at the floating eye in spite of the array of near-blinding lights, and asked, "Are you ready to come out and play, Priest?"

            Outside the doors of Domino High, Seto Kaiba stood in waiting.  He had promised Kisara to meet her here so that he could give her a tour of Domino city.  "She's late."  He muttered to himself.

            Seto had told Mokuba before he left for school about how he had met Kisara.  The raven-haired boy had been ecstatic.  "Seto's got a girlfriend!" became that morning's mantra for Seto's younger brother.

            Waiting for Kisara, Seto had been given time to contemplate that incident.  On one hand, Seto found Mokuba's immature reaction quite humorous.  On the other hand, however, he felt sorry for his little brother.  The boy so desperately wanted to see Seto happy, but the elder Kaiba seemed unable to let go of his anger.  _"So much for letting my hate sink with __Alcatraz__."_  Seto thought sadly.  At the end of the Battle City tournament, Seto had promised Mokuba that he would destroy Alcatraz, the last remnant of Gozaburo Kaiba.  He hoped that doing so would finally allow him to be free of the hatred left within him by his abusive step-father, but it seemed that even from the grave Gozaburo continued to persevere.  Just then, Seto heard a familiar voice.  "Mr. Kaiba!"

"Kisara.", Seto said.

"I'm so sorry for being late!" She said, bowing her head shamefully.

Seto suppressed a chuckle at the girl's overly anxious behavior.  "It's perfectly alright.  What kept you?" He asked.

She grinned sheepishly.  "Well, I met these two boys on the way here and decided to talk to them.  Jounouchi Katsuya and Yugi Motou, I think were their names."

Seto tensed at that.  He had always despised Jounouchi, and he and Yugi had been heated rivals ever since the young boy had defeated Seto in their first duel.  Just thinking about the two of them had always left Seto a little angry.  This time, however, there was something more.  He felt angry not just because of his previous experiences with Jounouchi and Yugi, but also because Kisara had chosen to talk to them even though she knew that would leave him waiting.  It surprised him to feel that.  _"Jealous, huh, Niisan?"_ Seto could just imagine Mokuba taunting him. 

_"No,"_ Seto told himself, _"not jealous; just frustrated that the reason I was kept waiting was because of that mutt Katsuya and Yugi."_

_"But,"_ the imaginary Mokuba argued, _"Isn't that kind of the same thing?"_

  Seto decided to save this bizarre mental dialogue for some other time, and chose to begin the tour.  He thus walked towards his limousine, which was parked on the curb nearby, and motioned for Kisara to follow.  The silver-haired girl did so, and soon, the pair were sitting in the backseat of Seto's limo.  As the chauffer began driving off, Kisara bowed her head again very slightly.  "I'm so sorry I kept you waiting, Mr. Kaiba.  I really do appreciate what you're doing."

Seto shrugged.  "You already apologized, Kisara.  Oh, and you can just call me Seto."

As soon as he finished his sentence, Seto began mentally berating himself again.  _"What is WITH me lately?  First, I agree to take this girl on the tour of the city, and now, I'm allowing her to call me by my first name?"_

Kisara nodded.  "Thank you…Seto."

Seto turned to the window, and soon began pointing out landmarks to the young girl.  This continued for some time until, at last, they reached the Kaiba Corp. building.  "This is where you work, right?" Kisara asked.

Seto nodded.  "It must be difficult."

Seto cocked an eyebrow.  "What?"

"Being the CEO of such a big company.  How do you have time for anything else?"

Seto frowned.  "I don't, really.  With the exception of school, there's very little else I do besides work at Kaiba Corp."

"Except play Duel Monsters." Kisara said, pointing at the card that hung around Seto's neck. 

Seto looked at the card himself.  "True, but even that has become increasingly difficult to do without some kind of backing from the company."  Seto said.

"What card is it?" Kisara asked.

She noticed Seto looked puzzled, so she explained.  "The card on your neck, what Duel Monsters card is it?"

Seto grinned.  "It's not a Duel Monsters card at all, it just looks like one."

Kisara nodded.  "Well, what is it, then?"

Seto put his hand on the card, opening its front to reveal a young, raven haired boy playing chess.  "It's a locket."

Kisara looked at the picture.  "Who is that cute little boy?"

Seto chuckled as he imagined how Mokuba would react to being called a "cute little boy", and said "This is my younger brother Mokuba when he was five years old."

_"I've gone insane.  That's it.  I _have_ to be insane to be telling this complete stranger everything about me."_ Seto thought to himself.

"He sounds like a very important person to you." Kisara said.

Seto nodded.  Kisara then said, "Mr. Kai…I mean, Seto, I really appreciate that you've done all this for me.  Thank you."

Seto nodded.  Seto had told Kisara that the Kaiba Corp. building would be their last stop before taking her home.

"Now then, where do you live?" Seto asked.

"Oh, I live near the Kame game shop." Kisara said.

Seto groaned quietly.  _"Why does everything I do seem to end up leading back to Yugi Motou?"_

The Kame game shop was the game store owned by Yugi's grandfather.  More often then not, it was also the place Yugi and his friends hung out together at.  Seto turned to the driver, and said "Take us to the Kame game shop." 

As the car turned around to head for the game shop, Seto decided to take this opportunity to get to know Kisara better.  _"After all,"_ he reasoned with a bit of sarcasm, _"she already knows everything about me."_   

"So, Kisara, what is your last name?  I didn't catch it."

Kisara looked up at him.  "Oh.  I don't have one."

Seto looked confused at this.  "Well, what's your family's last name?"

Kisara looked at the floor of the car sadly.  For whatever reason, this made Seto nervous that he might have hit a sensitive area.  _"Well, what do I care?"_ he asked himself.

Still, for all the callousness he had surrounded himself with over the years, the forlorn look on Kisara's face made Seto feel sorry for the girl.  It had been so long since Seto had felt sorry for anyone that the emotion was quite alien to him.  "I… I don't have a family, at least, not that I know of."

Her voice was not its usual upbeat tone.  Instead, it had taken on a sense of sadness.  "No relatives?  No siblings?  No…parents?" Seto asked cautiously, almost afraid of upsetting the girl any further.

"No.  I was born and raised in an orphanage, although I still don't know who gave birth to me." She said, sadly. 

Seto's face darkened.  He knew the anguish of living at an orphanage, of being treated as some sort of luggage to be handed off to whoever paid the highest price.  He had lived at one for two years with Mokuba, before Gozaburo adopted them.  This girl, however, had spent her whole life in one.  Seto put his hand on Kisara's shoulder in spite of himself.  "I understand."

Kisara looked up at Seto.  She looked near tears, but was smiling.  "You'd be the first." She said.

Seto smiled.  Something about this girl was making him act different, making him feel completely new emotions.  For all the mental scolding, he was enjoying it.  "Maybe, but I doubt I'd be the last.  I find it hard to believe there aren't thousands of people who could understand and appreciate you."  Seto spoke without even thinking.

Kisara smiled, the sadness in her face all but gone.  "Thank you, Seto."

"We have arrived at the Kame game shop, Mr. Kaiba."  The driver spoke, interrupting Seto's conversation. 

Seto looked out the window.  "Which one is yours?" Seto asked.

"The first one to the right." Kisara said.

Seto opened the door for her.  "Goodbye, Seto.  I'll…I'll see you tomorrow at school.  Thank you…" Kisara said, shakily, "for everything."

Seto simply nodded.  Now that she was no longer in the car, he found it easier to maintain his usual air of disinterest.  Once she had entered her home, Seto closed the door.  "I _must_ be insane." He muttered as the car drove off.

            From the rooftops, two shadowy figures watched Seto's limousine drive off.  The first was Yami Bakura.  "Excellent.  We know where the girl lives." The ancient thief chuckled.

            The second figure hid all his features behind a draping white cloak.  The only attribute one could ascertain from the hidden figure was that it was taller than Yami Bakura.  "When do we start?" It asked in a gruff male voice. 

            "We need to wait, old friend.  If we strike too soon, we may ruin our chances."  Yami Bakura said matter-of-factly.

            The cloaked man simply grunted in response.  Yami Bakura ignored it, and instead leapt to another nearby rooftop.  "You know the plan!" He called back to his shadowed companion, and both leapt off into the darkness.

            As the lights and buildings flashed by the car, Seto waited for his arrival home.  The night had been…intriguing, to say the least.  Now that it was over, Seto did what he always did with any situation: He looked back at it and analyzed it.  Kisara bore an uncanny resemblance to the girl he had been seeing in his dreams as of late.  She also had the same name.  Therefore, there was some kind of link.  The dreams he had been having all took place in Egypt.  This meant that, in one way or another, these events were linked to Ishizu's ramblings about his "ancient past".  He did not much care for the Egyptian woman.  Even if she were right, her high-and-mighty attitude always managed to enrage Seto.  Still, even he was not blind to the facts: She would have the answers.  "Driver, take me to the Domino museum." Seto said.

            He knew Ishizu was leaving Japan to return to Egypt in one week.  That meant if he wanted answers, he would need to get them now.  _"Still, if she starts another one of her little tirades about __Egypt__ again…"_ He thought angrily.

            Kisara entered her house quietly.  It was small.  There were only two rooms to the whole thing, the living room and the bathroom.  Still, it was her home, and she was proud of it.  It was difficult to get even this much.  She had spent sixteen years in that dreadful orphanage, and not a single person had wanted to adopt her.  When she had turned sixteen, the orphanage owner had a proposition for her:  Since it was quite obvious no one was going to adopt her any time soon, the owner would give her the option of leaving the orphanage with just enough money to eke out a living.  Kisara had jumped at the offer.  _"And I have yet to regret it."_ Kisara thought happily. 

            The drive with Seto had been incredible.  She had heard that he was a heartless monster of a human, but she felt it couldn't be true.  "There's good in everyone." She had said.

            Tonight had proven it.  Seto may have seemed cold at first, but all it took was a little digging, and the real Seto Kaiba came out.  _"He was quite charming."_ She thought, giggling. 

            She soon set out making herself Ramen for dinner.  As she sat on the couch to let the water boil, she heard a creaking, and realized she was not alone.  "Who…who is there?" She asked.  Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a man dressed in a white cloak appeared right in front of her…

**To be continued…**

     


	3. From the Past

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: OK, this is the chapter where things really start moving.  One thing I want to address is a review by Selena Style.  I really appreciate your opinion, and simply wish to point out something.  The reason the Seto/Kisara interactions may seem a little two-dimensional is that, even though they don't realize it, they're already in a relationship.  I'd say more, but that'd spoil the rest of the story.  Suffice it to say, bear with me.  It'll all make sense in the end…I hope.    

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British).  Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on.  Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime.  This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur.  However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world.  In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time.  Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past.  Enjoy. 

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 3: From the Past

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

            Kisara looked over the cloaked man warily.  He was tall, wearing a tan robe with a white cape around his neck.  He was Egyptian, she could tell by his skin color, and wore a white turban.  Around his neck was a golden ankh, another clue that he was from Egypt.  In his left hand, he held a golden balance scale.  The most disturbing detail about him, however, was his eyes.  They were a completely blank, soulless, black.  "Who…who are you?  Why are you in my house?" She asked, nervously.

            The man responded flatly, "I am Shadi.  I am here to warn you that you are in great danger."

            Kisara looked at him confusedly.  "Danger?  What kind of danger?"

            Shadi's expression did not change in the slightest.  "The tomb robber Bakura seeks your death."

            "Why would a person I don't even know want to kill me?"

            "You do know Bakura; you simply do not remember it."

            "I don't understand."

            "You will…in time."

            With that, Shadi turned his back to Kisara and walked off, vanishing into the very shadows he had come from.

            Kisara could only stare blankly, in shock of the bizarre encounter she had just had.  Wondering what to do, a thought struck her.  _"That eye symbol on Shadi's scale…I've seen it before…"_

            She pondered as to where when she remembered her encounter at school shortly before joining Seto for the tour.  _"That kid Yugi…he had a weird puzzle on his neck with the same symbol."_

            With that, she ran out the door to the Kame Game shop, located next to her house.  She prayed that Yugi would be there.  _"And hopefully, he'll have some answers."_

She opened the door to the shop to find, to her relief, Yugi and Jounouchi, as well as two others, sitting at a table near the counter.  Yugi and Jounouchi were both playing Duel Monsters against each other, the other two watching.  _"And judging by what Yugi and Jounouchi told me back at school, those two are probably Anzu and Honda."_ Kisara reasoned.

            Kisara's entrance did not go unnoticed.  Yugi looked up from his duel with Jounouchi to greet her.  "Oh, hi, Kisara."

            Anzu, a relatively tall girl with brown hair and similarly brown eyes looked at Yugi confusedly.  "You know this girl, Yugi?  I've never seen her before." She said.

            Jounouchi answered for his friend.  "This is Kisara, Anzu.  She's new to Domino, and she met up with me and Yugi earlier today."

            Honda simply stared blankly, blushing intensely.  "…pretty…" he managed to mumble, earning him a hard knock on the head from Anzu.

            Kisara sighed in frustration.  "Look, I really don't have time for small talk.  I need to speak to you, Yugi!" She said.

            Yugi stood up and walked over to her.  "OK, Kisara, no need to shout." He said, a slight hint of defensiveness in his voice.

            "Some weird Egyptian guy named Shadi was at my house, with a weird scale that looks a lot like your puzzle, Yugi.  Care to explain?" Kisara asked, making no attempt to hide her suspicions. 

            _"Shadi?__  Why would he be at Kisara's house?"_ Yugi asked Yami.

            _"It must have something to do with that strange energy I've been sensing from her."_ The ancient spirit replied.

            _"What do we do now?"_

            _"The only thing we can do: Tell her the truth."_

Ending his mental conversation, Yugi looked to Kisara solemnly.  "I know you want answers, Kisara, and I can give them to you, but it's going to take a while.  You might want to sit down."

            With that, Yugi started telling Kisara all about the sennen items…

            As Seto Kaiba exited his limousine and began walking toward the Domino museum it had parked in front of, a thousand thoughts rushed through his mind.  Chief among them was _"What the Hell am I doing here?"_

The brown-haired CEO sighed angrily.  The dreams he had been having, Kisara, and the ancient past Ishizu was always rambling about; they were all linked, somehow.  Seto Kaiba did not believe in the fairytales Ishizu and Yugi constantly tried to convince him were real.  However, there were simply too many facts in their favor to deny that story completely any longer.  _"I'll just ask her about what part Kisara has in all this and leave."_ Seto thought as he opened the doors to the museum. 

_"Even if she gives me another cock-and-bull story about __Egypt__, any kind of information Ishizu can give me will give me something to work with in figuring this all out."_  As he thought this, he was already walking down the stairs to the Ancient Egypt exhibit, where Ishizu could almost always be found. 

Seto entered the room, but it was devoid of other people besides himself.  However, directly in front of him was the artifact Ishizu had obsessed over so much the last time he had been here: The large stone tablet depicting an ancient battle between a priest identical to Seto and a pharaoh identical to Yugi.  Seto had learned at Alcatraz tower that the tablet was in fact a lithograph, a memorial to the Priest's trusted friend, the pharaoh.  This made little sense to Seto, even by Ishizu's bizarre logic: If the priest and the pharaoh were such close friends, why would they be fighting each other?  "I'm glad to see you have returned, Seto Kaiba." A familiar voice spoke.

Seto turned around to face Ishizu, who had just walked in to the room.  He wasn't surprised at her sudden appearance; it took far more than that to scare Seto Kaiba.  Seto looked at her for a moment and opened his mouth to speak.  Ishizu cut him off.  "I am already aware of why you are here, Kaiba.  You have met a girl, Kisara, who you have seen several times in your dreams.  You realize these dreams have some connection to the ancient past I've told you so much about.  Thus, you believe I can at least partially answer your questions." She said, flatly.

Seto snarled in frustration.  "Look, I'm not here to be lectured.  I just want to know why she's part of these dreams!"

"Even if I told you, you would not believe me."

"Maybe not, but I'd have something to work with."

"I'm afraid, Kaiba, that unless you embrace the truth fully, you will have no answers at all."

Seto's hand clutched into a fist and shook with anger.  "I don't care!  Just tell me what you know!"

Ishizu couldn't help but grin.  This, however, only served to anger Seto further.  "What is so funny?"  He snarled, barely able to control the fury building up inside of him. 

"You still do not understand, Kaiba.  This is all destined to occur, and until you accept that, no answer I give will suffice." She said, a sardonic tone to her voice.

Suddenly, another figure entered.  Seto instantly recognized the bright-haired boy as Ishizu's younger brother, Malik.  In his right hand, he carried with him a short, golden staff, the sennen rod.  "Stop teasing him, sister." Malik said calmly.

Seto was beginning to lose his patience.  "Save the trivialities for later.  I want answers…NOW!" He said, raising his voice with each word. 

Malik walked in front of Ishizu, and held out his sennen rod to Seto.  "Take it." He said.

Seto stood there, confused.  "Take it." Malik repeated.

Seto was hesitant to react, unsure of what to do.  "If you want answers, the only way to get them is to take the rod." Malik said, steadily.

Seto reached to touch it, but doubt was still evident in his motions.  "The only way to protect Kisara is in this rod, High priest Seth." Malik said.

Something deep within Seto's very soul stirred at this.  Suddenly, the rod glowed, and a vision flashed before him…

            Kisara lay on the silk-covered bed, tired.  Cuts and bruises were all over her body.  High Priest Seth kneeled down to the bed, applying a damp tissue to the girl's cut cheek.  "How are you feeling?" He asked.

            "Better." Kisara said, weakly.

            "Good." Seth replied curtly.

            He stood up to go grab a roll of bandages nearby, but was stopped when Kisara grabbed his arm.  Seth was surprised.  "Wait." Kisara said.

            Seth stared at her for a few moments, then attempted to rise again.  "Please, wait." Kisara pleaded.  Seth sighed. 

"What?" He asked, flatly.

"I never got to thank you." Kisara said.

"It is my duty as High Priest of the pharaoh to protect the innocent.  There is no need to thank me." Seth said.

"Yes, there is.  You saved my life from those villagers." She said. 

Seth kept his face stern.  "Thank you…" Kisara said, shakily, "…for everything."

            The rod's glow died, and Seto returned to reality.  The vision had been so real.

_Seto opened the door for her. "Goodbye, Seto. I'll…I'll see you tomorrow at school. Thank you…" Kisara said, shakily, "for everything."_

That vision…the Kisara in that vision had said the exact same thing as the real Kisara, in the same tone.  Seto now knew that if he was ever going to get his answers, he really would have to take the rod.  Without a second thought, he clutched the golden staff.  It glowed brighter than ever before, engulfing the room.  The next thing Seto knew, his world was spinning like a tornado…

**To be continued…**

              __


	4. Set into Motion

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: OK, time for chapter 4.  It's only been like, what, a week since I started? Two?  At the rate I'm going, this should be complete in no time! (Well, actually, considering this is going to be a loooooooooooong story, maybe not.)  Anyway, in response to  Mystic of Nile's review, yes, Isis is Ishizu's Japanese name.  However, I'm more accustomed to Ishizu.  Plus, it sounds cooler, IMO.  Oh, and one more thing: At least in this story, Yugi and Yami's mental dialogues may seem to last a bit, but to everyone outside of Yugi's mind, they only last a second.  Before anyone says this contradicts Yugi looking down at the puzzle in chapter 1, here's how I have it working: When Yugi is talking to Yami, he looks at the puzzle.  Thus, for the second the conversation takes, Yugi is looking at the puzzle.  Just a little nugget of info just in case anyone gets confused.      

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British).  Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on.  Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime.  This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur.  However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world.  In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time.  Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past.  Enjoy. 

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 4: Set into Motion

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

            Seto blinked repeatedly to clear the spots in his eyes.  Alas, though the spots vanished, the rapid blinking only made Seto's headache worse.  Everything felt lighter, somehow, as if the law of gravity had become null and void.  When at last both his vision and his head cleared, Seto found himself standing in a very familiar room.  _"This is impossible." _Seto thought.

            Seto was now standing in the middle of the room he had lived in when his parents were still alive.  _"This is impossible," _he mentally repeated, _"my old house was torn down shortly after Mokuba and I were sent to the orphanage."_

            Looking around, Seto began to contemplate just what was happening.  The last thing he remembered was being at the Domino museum and, against his better judgment, had taken the sennen rod once held by Malik Ishtar.  He still wasn't entirely sure why he had done it.  Something deep within him had simply urged him to do so.  _"And here I am."_ Seto thought.

            Although he had at first thought the place he was in was a perfect replica of his old room, Seto now noticed several key differences.  The first was that there were three Blue Eyes White Dragon statues in the room.  Duel Monsters had not yet been invented before he had moved to the orphanage, so Seto knew he couldn't have had those.  The second thing he noticed was that there was a photo of Gozaburo Kaiba on his dresser.  He knew that couldn't have possibly been there, either, as he and Gozaburo did not meet until after his move.  _"Just where am I?"_ Seto wondered.

            Just then, the door to the room blew open.  What it revealed shocked Seto.  Outside of his room was a stone hallway, and parallel to his own room's door was another door, but this one was quite different.  Rather than the plain wood door that belonged to the room he was in now, this new door was a fancy blue steel, trimmed with gold.  Seto wondered whether he should go and open the blue door.  _"What have I got to lose?"_ He reasoned.

            Thus, Seto exited his altered child-hood home, and turned the knob of the new door.  When he pulled it open, he was greeted with a stunning sight.  It was a gigantic chamber, one of (to no surprise to Seto) Egyptian architecture.  Each side of the chamber was lined with golden torches, ablaze with fire inside of them.  At the end of the chamber hallway was a man whose white caped back was to Seto.  He was on his knees, presumably praying, in front of a large stone tablet with a familiar beast carved upon it.  _"The Blue Eyes White Dragon."_Seto observed.

            As soon as the thought passed through his mind, the figure at the end of the hallway stiffened.  He stood to his full height, equal to Seto's.  "You've finally come.  I knew you would." He spoke in a low raspy voice that sounded identical to…

            "Mine." Seto said out loud, without even realizing it.

            The man turned to Seto at last.  Seto felt like he was staring in a mirror.  With the exception of the blue-gold armor and white robes he wore on his body, the man in front of him was identical to Seto in every way.  Blue eyes, brown hair, lanky body.  He was also the other person who Seto had seen with Kisara in his dreams.  "Who are you?" Seto asked, surprised at just how afraid his Egyptian double was making him feel.

            "I am the High Priest Seth, and you are going to help me take my revenge!"

The conversation between Yugi and Kisara was going better than expected.  Rather than be shocked at all the experiences and secrets Yugi held, Kisara was positively captivated.  She was attentive for the entire thing, and understood every word of it.  This confused Yugi.  Even he hadn't been able to absorb all the information about Yami and his history THAT quickly.  _"This clinches it, Yugi.  Somehow or other, this girl is linked to my past."_ Yami mentally commented as Yugi finished telling the pharaoh's story.

            _"What makes you say that?"_ Yugi asked.

            _"She understood everything, Yugi, even what you didn't fully understand.  It can't be coincidence. Besides, if what she says is true,Bakura knows who she is." _Yami answered.

            _"But we still don't know _how _she's connected, Yami."_ Yugi commented.

            _"True. That is why we say nothing to her about it until we're sure." _Yami said.

            Yugi nodded, then exited his mental conversation.  He was greeted by Kisara's response.  "So a pharaoh's spirit lives in that puzzle of yours? That's so cool, Yugi.  Still, it doesn't explain why that Shadi guy was at my house."

            Yugi nodded.  "Shadi is a bit of a mystery, even to me.  I'm not fully sure he's human; I think he might be a wandering spirit of some kind."

            Jounouchi decided to finally interject.  "So what do we do now?  I mean, if Bakura is after Kisara, do we just wait for him to attack us?" He asked.

            Yugi contemplated this for a moment.  "There's only one thing to do: We've got to find Bakura while he isn't possessed by the spirit of the sennen ring.  Maybe then we can get some answers." He said.

            Kisara nodded.  "Well, what are we waiting for?  Let's go!" She said.

            "_We_ aren't doing anything." Honda interjected.  "Bakura wants to kill you, remember?"

            Kisara rolled her eyes.  "Oh, come on, not the 'over-protective' bit.  What are you going to do, leave me here alone and even more vulnerable?" She protested, annoyance evident in her voice. 

            Anzu smiled, patting Kisara on the shouler.  "That's the spirit." She laughed.

            Honda grunted something unintelligible, folding his arms over his chest in frustration.  Yugi stood up and walked over to the phone.  "I'll call and see if he's home."

            Just as the young boy's hand reached the phone, however, the entire building rumbled.  "What was that?" Kisara asked. 

            "Not good." Jounouchi said, poking his head outside of the door.

            What he saw was smoke, settling down around a large flame.  "An explosion!" He said out loud.

            The others rushed outside at that.  "LOOK!" Yugi shouted, pointing at the dieing smoke.  Walking away from the flames was Seto Kaiba, stumbling around confusedly.  One hand was clutching his head as if in agony.  The other…

            _"He has the sennen rod, Yugi!"_ Yami shouted. 

With that, the sennen puzzle glowed, and Yami took over Yugi's body.  The boy now looked taller, the golden portion of his hair now spiked in front the red and black part.  "Seto…?" Kisara asked out loud, obviously confused.

Suddenly, Seto's other hand thrust the rod in a random direction, and a blast of destructive energy burst forth from the eye on the rod's top.  "What does Kaiba think he's doing?  He's bound to hurt somebody!" Jounouchi shouted.

"Something isn't right here." Yami Yugi said.

            "His face…" Kisara said mournfully.

            Yami Yugi looked closely at Kaiba to see what Kisara was talking about.  Indeed, his face kept changing.  One moment, it looked normal.  The next, however, his eyes became more slanted, and his hair turned grew wild and spiky.  _"That looks just like what happens when…"_ Yugi thought.

            _"When we change places!"_ Yami said.

Seto and Seth rolled across the floor of the Egyptian chamber on top of each other.  "Get off of me!" Seto growled, trying to strangle the high priest. 

            "NEVER! I need your body for my revenge!" Seth said angrily.

            Seto's hand was pushed down by Seth before it could reach his throat.  "What 'revenge'?  Who are you even trying to kill?" Seto asked, throwing a punch at the priest.

            Seth dodged, and slammed his elbow down at Seto.  Seto rolled out of the way, leaping to his feet instantly as he did so.  "The pharaoh! I have waited so long to finally be able to take my vengeance for what he did to my family!" Seth roared.

            "Yugi?" Seto asked, confusedly.

            Seto thought of Yugi as a rival, but he also knew the boy was gentle and would never intentionally harm anyone.  _"But,"_ he thought, _"what about the spirit of the sennen puzzle?"_

            This caused Seto to pause for a moment.  It was the spirit, after all, who had been willing to kill Seto when they dueled at Duelist Kingdom.  Still, that wasn't important right now.  "Even if I believed what you're saying, no one uses my body but me!" Seto finally spat.

            Seth's face darkened.  "You still don't get it, do you?" He asked.

            "Get what?"

            "It's going to happen again."

            "WHAT is going to happen again?"

            "3000 years ago, the pharaoh murdered my family.  I have spent that time seeking my vengeance.  He must be stopped before he strikes again!"

            Seto growled.  Moving quickly, he punched Seth and pinned him to the ground.  "Enough riddles.  Give me a straight answer NOW!"

            Seth sighed.  "I've been trying to stop the pharaoh ever since he was reawaken.  I allowed Malik's dark side to manifest itself with my power, knowing he would eventually fight, and hopefully defeat, the pharaoh.  When he failed, I called to you, giving you visions of our past so that you would come for the rod.  Once you had it, I could possess your body and stop the pharaoh."

            "STOP HIM FROM DOING WHAT???" Seto screamed in frustration.

            "From murdering your family, just like he did mine."

            The stumbling Seto stopped, his head slumping to his body as if it had been held up by a string that had just been cut.  He stood perfectly still.  "Is he OK?" Kisara asked worriedly.

            "I'm not sure." Yami Yugi said. 

            Jounouchi leapt forward.  "Let's take that rod from him before he starts blowing stuff up again!"

            Anzu and Honda nodded in agreement.  The three started walking towards Seto.  Yami Yugi and Kisara staid where they were.  "I don't get it, Yugi, what happened to Seto?" Kisara asked.

            Yami Yugi never stopped looking at Seto as he answered, "I'm not sure, but I have a theory."

            _"This must be linked somehow to the high priest from the tablet!"_ Yugi mentally told Yami.

From the rooftops, Yami Bakura remained hidden from everyone else, save his white-cloaked compatriot, who sat right alongside him.  The tomb robber could not stop laughing.  "This is too much fun! Watching those little puppets perform the same show from 3000 years ago!" He managed to gasp between fits of laughter.

            His ally looked at him.  From beneath the darkness of his cloak, a glint of gold shined from where his right eye would be.  "When do we strike?"

            Yami Bakura controlled his laughing long enough to answer.  "Not yet.  Let's see if the high priest can finish the job this time."

                 Kisara ran ahead of Anzu, Honda, and Jounouchi, reaching the still-slumped Seto first.  Yami Yugi followed cautiously, still ready for anything that might happen.  "Seto, are you OK?" Kisara asked nervously.

            Yugi observed Kisara's actions.  _"She's really quite concerned for Kaiba, isn't she?"_ He asked Yami.

            The spirit simply nodded.  He was too focused on Seto and the potential threat he posed to talk right now.  Yugi understood.  However, he still felt Kisara acted as if Seto was a close personal friend, when they had only met a day ago.  Jounouchi stepped in front of Kisara.  "Hold on, Kisara.  We don't know what's up with Kaiba, so keep your distance." He said.

            Seto began to stir slightly.  His head rose, revealing a face similar but different from his own.  The eyes were slanted, and a blank empty black.  _"Just like Shadi's…"_ Kisara observed worriedly. 

            The hair was also spikier, but not by much.  "Pharaoh!" Seto called, his voice deeper than usual.  Yami Yugi immediately took notice.

            "I challenge you to a duel!" Seto shouted to Yami Yugi.

            The young duelist stepped forward to confront Seto.  "There are no duel disks to use, Kaiba…IF that's who you really are!" He said, his eyes focused on Kaiba with great intensity.

            Seto laughed.  "Duel disks?  Who said anything about duel disks?"

            With that, a dark energy began to emerge from the sennen rod, reaching out to engulf everyone in its path…

**To be continued…**


	5. Rekindled Battle

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: At last, some real action! This is going to be a showdown between Seth and Yami, and yes, it is going to be a full-blown duel.  Sorry if it bores you, but I don't feel right skimping on it.  Also, I may use cards that are made up.  To have the freedom to have the duel go as I want, I may be using fictional cards.  Don't worry, though, the whole chapter isn't a duel.  We also get to see what Mokuba's been up to, and we learn a little more about the ancient past.        

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British).  Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on.  Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime.  This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur.  However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world.  In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time.  Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past.  Enjoy. 

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 5: Rekindled battle

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

            Mokuba Kaiba was sweating bullets as he slowly maneuvered his big brother's private copter over Domino City.  He knew Seto would go ballistic if he knew that Mokuba had not only taken his copter without asking, but that he was piloting it unsupervised.  Mokuba had been taking lessons in copter flying for several weeks now, but Seto did not feel he was ready to do it on his own yet.  However, when Mokuba had seen the news, confronted with an image of Seto stumbling away from a titanic explosion many reporters theorized to be of the elder Kaiba's own making, Mokuba knew he had to find Seto.  _"The copter will let me find him the fastest."_ He reminded himself, holding the control stick steady. 

Swooping over the skyscrapers of the city beneath him, Mokuba's eyes darted around, looking for some sign of his older brother.  _"I know Seto wasn't responsible for those explosions, he couldn't have been!"_ the raven haired Kaiba thought, trying to control both the helicopter and his own nervousness.

_"Everyone thinks Seto's a monster, willing to do anything to win…but he isn't that heartless.  There's got to be an explanation for all this!"_ Mokuba's thoughts were interrupted by a strange but familiar sight.

Emerging from Domino square was a bubble of dark energy, engulfing the entire area around it.  Mokuba knew that meant a shadow game was in progress.  _"I wonder who's playing it, though.  Malik was defeated by Yugi, so it couldn't…"_ Mokuba stopped his train of thought when he realized something.  Thinking of Malik had reminded him: Seto had been holding the sennen rod when he had been seen on TV!  Mokuba quickly put two and two together, and steered the copter towards the emerging bubble of darkness.  _"Please be OK, oniichan." _He thought desperately.

            Yami Yugi looked around at the familiar shadows that surrounded him and his friends.  Jounouchi was the first to react, clutching his head in frustration.  "ARRGH!!! Not another one of these stupid shadow games!" He growled.

            Honda and Anzu both huddled next to Jounouchi.  "Make sure he doesn't see Kisara." Honda whispered.

            Kisara groaned quietly.  She hated it when people treated her like she was a child.  She also knew that something was wrong with Seto.  Even if it had been for only a few hours, the time she had spent with Seto had taught her volumes about his personality.  She wasn't fully sure why, but just being near him allowed her an insight into his soul.  Because of that, she knew that Seto wasn't doing this on his own will.  Pushing Honda and Anzu aside, she managed to run up to the brown-haired boy.  "KISARA, STAY BACK!" Yami Yugi shouted.

            Seto turned to face Kisara.  His eyes and hair remained edged, a sign to Yami Yugi that another spirit was in control of his body right now.  Kisara again noted Seto's eyes held that same blank darkness as Shadi's.  However, there was a depth of feeling in them that Shadi's eyes had not held.  There was sadness and longing in them.  For a moment, Kisara was taken off guard.  "Seto…" She started.

            Seto did not allow her to finish, turning away from her.  "Leave, before he hurts you." He said.

            Kisara was confused.  Who was the "he" Seto was referring to?  "Pharaoh, it is time to begin our Shadow game!" Seto cried, his voice echoing in the darkness.

            Yami Yugi narrowed his eyes at the blue-eyed duelist.  "What shall the game be?" He asked. 

            Seto grinned.  "It's a game I'm sure you're familiar with, Pharaoh: The loser must give his soul to the winner!"

            Kisara gasped.  "WHAT? Seto, are you insane?" She shouted, angry at him. 

            Something was wrong with him, she knew, but that didn't mean he could just do whatever he pleased.  "Stay out of this, Kisara.  You'll only endanger yourself by getting involved."

            With that, Seto took his dueling deck out of the special pocket on his waist belt where he kept it.  Yami Yugi followed suit.  "I'll make the first move." Seto announced. 

            Drawing from the top of his deck, which was now floating next to him, Seto picked a card from his hand and placed it in front of him.  Like the deck, it floated in place.  "I summon the monster La Jinn to the field!" Seto cried.  The green-skinned genie emerged from the card on command, folding its arms in front of its chest in preparation of its next move. 

La Jinn

Atk:1800

Def:1000

"Next, I'll equip him with the magic card Negative Energy, which doubles his attack strength.  I'll play two cards face down, and end my turn." Seto announced. 

Bolts of purple energy floated around La Jinn, and the mystic lamp dweller's size increased with its strength.

La Jinn

Atk: 3600

            Yami Yugi drew, stone-faced.  "Now it's my turn! I'll play Retained Celtic Guardian in Defense mode!" Yami Yugi cried, summoning the elven warrior to the field.

Retained Celtic Guardian

Atk: 1400

Def: 1200

            "Finally, I'll play one card face down and end my turn." Yami Yugi said.

            With that, Seto drew again.  He chuckled. "I activate the magic card De-Spell, to see your face down card!" Seto said.

            Yami Yugi's face down card flipped face-up, revealing the trap card Mirror Force.  Yami Yugi grinned.  "Sorry, but since Mirror Force is a trap card, your De-spell card doesn't effect it."

            Seto laughed.  "Maybe De-Spell won't, but my Remove Trap magic card will!"

With that, Seto activated the Remove Trap magic card, destroying Yami Yugi's Mirror Force.  Yami Yugi grinned.  "Excellent move.  With both Remove Trap and De-Spell in your hand, there was no way my face down card would be safe."

            Seto nodded.  "Now, La Jinn, attack his Retained Celtic Guardian!"

            By Seto's orders, the green genie gathered fiery energy into its hands.  Molding the flames into a ball, the genie launched it at the waiting Retained Celtic Guardian.  The fireball exploded on contact, causing the entire arena to be illuminated by the blast.  Seto grinned, expecting the green-armored elf to be completely destroyed.  However, to his shock, Retained Celtic Guardian was unscathed as the smoke cleared.  "What?" He growled in surprise.

            Yami Yugi chuckled.  "Retained Guardian's special ability makes it impossible to destroy it with monsters that have 1900 attack points or more.  Normally, La Jinn wouldn't fall into that category, but thanks to your own Negative Energy card, he does!"

            Seto narrowed his eyes at his opponent.  "So your monster was safe all along, even without Mirror Force." He observed.

            Yami Yugi nodded.  He drew, and then played two cards face down.  "Now," he said, "I'll summon Mystical Elf in Defense mode!"

Mystical Elf

Atk: 800

Def: 2000

              Seto shook his head, laughing quietly.  "Neither of your monsters can defend you, Pharaoh, so I'll attack with La Jinn!" Seto cried.

            "Not so fast!  I'll activate my trap card, Regulation of Tribe!  This trap card allows me to select one type of monster and prevent it from attacking for as long as this card remains on the field!" Yami Yugi cried, revealing one of the two hidden cards on his side of the field. 

            Chains shot forth from the card towards La Jinn.  "I've chosen Fiend as the type of monster to affect, so now, La Jinn will be unable to attack!" Yami Yugi shouted.

            However, just as the chains touched La Jinn, they turned back, latching instead onto Yami Yugi's Retained Celtic Guardian!  "You activated a trap card of my own, Pharaoh, called Shift!" Seto declared triumphantly.

            "This card allows me to redirect magic cards, trap cards, or monster attacks that target one of my monsters back at another monster of my choice, and I picked your Retained Celtic Guardian!" He finished. 

            _"That's not good! That means that La Jinn is free to attack, while all our warrior-type monsters will be helpless!" _Yugi reminded his spiritual partner.

            Seto waved his finger at Yami Yugi mockingly.  "You and I always were even in our skills, Pharaoh, but while you've lost all that memory of yours, I haven't."

            Yami Yugi's eyes immediately widened.  He now knew who he was truly dealing with.  "So, my suspicions were correct!  You aren't really Seto Kaiba; you are the spirit of the High Priest who I dueled 3000 years ago!" Yami Yugi cried in anger.

            Kisara smiled.  She knew Seto hadn't truly become an evil maniac! Her smile was quickly replaced with a grimace, however.  Turning to Seto's body, she shouted, "Get out of Seto right now!"

            Seto looked saddened for a moment, but quickly returned his attention to Yami Yugi.  "I don't know what lies you've told her, Pharaoh, but I won't let you harm her again!" He cried.

            Yami Yugi looked confused.  "What do you mean?" He asked.

            Seto's eyes narrowed.  "Time to refresh your memory, Pharaoh!  3000 years ago, in Ancient Egypt, I was your High Priest, as well as your friend.  It was my duty to overlook your empire and insure the safety of its citizens.  On one of my daily patrols, I discovered a young girl being attacked by a group of superstitious villagers who feared her Kaa."

            Yami Yugi interrupted him.  "Kaa?  What's a Kaa?" He asked.

            Seto grinned.  "Ah, that's right, you don't remember.  A Kaa is a of monster that exists inside of the hearts of humans.  One Kaa was feared above all others, though: The Blue Eyes White Dragons.  While most Kaa had countless possible hosts, only three Blue Eyes White Dragons existed.  I held the first, my younger brother the second."

            "Younger brother?"

            "Your intrusions are becoming obnoxious, pharaoh.  Yes, I had a younger brother, just as my modern form does.  We both possessed two of the three legendary Blue Eyes, but the third eluded me for some time.  When I rescued that girl…"

            The stone mask upon Seto's face broke momentarily, a look of mourning creeping upon it.  He quickly resumed his story.  "She became my younger brother's caretaker out of gratitude to my kindness."

            Kisara wiped her head.  Was she sweating?  She looked around and noticed that the others were sweating too, save Seto and Yugi.  _"It's probably because it's so hot."_ She noted, confused at the sudden change in temperature. 

            Suddenly, the shadows around the group dissipated, replaced now by a desert in the middle of a sandstorm.  Pyramids were located all over the landscape.  "What's going on?" Yami Yugi asked his opponent.

            "The shadows…they sense the power of the God cards…my memories have combined with that energy.  Your wait to reclaim your memories is over, Pharaoh, because we are now in ancient Egypt." Seto said.

            Yami Yugi could only stare in shock.  "While you take in the scenery, I'll make my next move!" Seto declared.

            Drawing, he played another face down card and also summoned Battle Ox in Attack Mode.

Battle Ox

Atk: 1700

Def: 1000

            "Your Retained Celtic Guardian may be invulnerable to my La Jinn, but my Battle Ox's attack strength is low enough to bypass its effect, while still being strong enough to destroy it!" Seto said proudly.

The red-armored minotaur charged towards its target, slashing its glimmering axe and cutting the Retained Celtic Guardian in half.  The Battle Ox's attack was quickly followed up by La Jinn's fireball, which destroyed the Mystical Elf.  Yami Yugi prepared to draw, when suddenly the landscape around them changed, revealing an Egyptian city.  "What's happening?" Yami Yugi asked. 

Seto smirked.  "You are quite inquisitive.  Now that we are in Ancient Egypt, each turn that passes will reveal a piece of the memories I was talking about to you."

With that, Seto turned his attention to watch the scene that was about to play out.  _"How odd that this one event would cause so much to change."_ The High priest thought.

"Someone's coming." Kisara said.

Someone did indeed round the corner of one of the nearby buildings, leaning on the wall to rest.  Kisara couldn't believe her eyes.  Before her very own eyes, wearing a tattered tan robe and covered in cuts and bruises, was herself.

**To be continued…**

Afterthoughts: Sorry for ending so abruptly, I couldn't think of a better place to do it.  I hope the duel doesn't scare away too many readers, or takes too long.  Indeed, I hope to resolve it in the next chapter.  Here's hoping. 

              
     


	6. The Flame That Forever Burns

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: Argh!  Sorry I haven't updated in a while.  First I had to go over to New York for a friend's Bar Mitzvah for a few days, and then, when I got back, my computer wouldn't let me log in for a few days.  Combine that with the fact that this chapter is twice the length of the others, and you get one prolonged update.  My apologies to everyone for keeping you waiting. 

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British).  Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on.  Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime.  This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur.  However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world.  In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time.  Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past.  Enjoy. 

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 6: The Flame that Forever Burns

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

            Kisara could only stare in shock at her mirror image, dressed in the tattered robe, covered in wounds and blood.  "THERE SHE IS!" Kisara heard a distant voice shout.

            Both Kisaras turned to face the voice.  They were greeted by a mob of villagers, dressed similarly to the injured Kisara.  Holding sticks and torches, they soon began running toward the injured girl.  Suddenly, everything froze.  Yami Yugi was the first to react.  "One more aspect to this you forgot to mention, Priest?" Yami Yugi asked tensely.

            "This portion of the memories is over, Pharaoh.  You may resume your turn." Seto said.

            Yugi did so.  "Alright, I'll play two cards face down and then summon Giant Soldier of Stone in Defense mode." He announced.

Giant Soldier of Stone:

Atk: 1300

Def: 2000

            Seto drew, and the scene around the group resumed.  The villagers charged at ancient Kisara.  The girl was too exhausted from the chase, and could no longer run.  She decided instead to attempt to reason with her attackers.  "Please," she begged, "why are you doing this?"

            One of the villagers, a muscular tall man with an eye-patch on his right eye stepped forward to answer.  "Your Kaa is a danger to everyone in the village.  We must kill it, and to do that, we must kill you."

            The Egyptian Kisara backed away slowly in fear.  Honda clenched his fists.  "Those creeps!  Picking on a girl like that!"

            Jounouchi placed his hand on Honda's shoulder.  "This is all ancient history, Honda.  There's nothing we can do." 

            "STOP!" A voice cried out.

            The entire group recognized it instantly.  "Seto?" The modern-day Kisara questioned.

            The patch-eyed villager turned to confront the newcomer.  There stood a man who looked identical to Seto Kaiba, dressed in blue armor with golden trims, as well as his white robes and cape.  He strode toward the villager with the patch.  "What is the meaning of this?" Seto's look-alike asked.

            One of the villagers began to answer, when, once again, the scene froze.  Seto smirked.  "Ah, good, my turn now."

            With that, he placed two cards face down. "That's all for now." He said.

            Yami Yugi pondered over this move even as the ancient memories resumed.  _"Why didn't Kaiba attack?  His La-Jinn is strong enough to destroy my Giant Soldier of Stone, and he would've been able to attack me directly with __Battle__ Ox.  He's up to something."_

            As he finished gathering his thoughts, Yugi drew his next card.  Suddenly, the villager who had been frozen mid-sentence before resumed what he was saying.  "High Priest, this girl possesses a Kaa too powerful to control.  The dragon of the blue flame exists within her, and only through her death will it leave us.  We must kill her so that it will leave our village in peace."

            High Priest Seth glared at the man.  "It is the responsibility of the Pharaoh's priests, not the villagers, to deal with Kaa."

            When the villagers did not respond, Seth finished with a yell.  "UNDERSTAND?"

            The villagers then began to nod frantically, murmuring nervously.  Seth moved through the crowd, stopping at the injured young girl.  "Are you alright?" He asked, his tone neutral.

             She prepared to answer, only to collapse from exhaustion.  Seth knelt down and lifted her into his arms.  As he walked away, he looked back at the villagers.  "Consider yourselves lucky; I'm letting you off…THIS time.  However, do something like this again, and you will have far more to worry about than this girl's kaa."

            His threat delivered, the priest walked off, and the scene again froze.  "My move." Yami Yugi stated.

            _"I _could _attack,"_ he thought, _"but with three face down cards on his field, it's almost certain that's exactly what Kaiba wants."_

Deciding to play it safe, Yami Yugi simply summoned Mystical Elf to the field in defense mode.

Mystical Elf

Atk: 800

Def: 2000

"That's all for now." He said.

            With that, the memories resumed.  This time, however, they were in a small room.  To the right side of the room, the memory version of Kisara lay silently.  Seth, as well as a short boy with raven-black hair dressed in a white toga with a golden necklace, stood by the injured Kisara.  "Will she be alright, big brother?" The shorter boy asked.

            Seth nodded.  "She'll be fine, Mokuba.  She just needs to rest."

            Mokuba turned to the exit.  "I'll go get her some water!"

            With a wide grin, the boy ran outside the room.  Seth smiled at his brother's young energy, and then turned his attention to the bedridden girl.  "If what that villager said is true, you may well be the key in obtaining the final piece of the puzzle."

            As the scene again froze, Seto looked forlornly at the frozen Seth.  _"If only I hadn't been so foolish…"_ he thought to himself.

            "This is Mokuba Kaiba to Kaiba Corp. HQ, do you read?"

            Isono, one of Kaiba Corp.'s top agents, looked frantically at the two-way radio into which he was now speaking.  He had been looking for Mokuba for some time now, fully aware of what Seto Kaiba would do to him if he discovered his younger brother had gone missing on Isono's watch.  "Master Mokuba, where on Earth are you?  Do you realize how much trouble you could get us both into?" he asked, making no effort to hide the panic in his voice.

            "I'm in Seto's private helicopter, and I think I know what the deal is with that news broadcast." Mokuba responded.

            Isono wasn't sure what Mokuba meant.  He was too busy to watch the news.  "I don't care, get back here at once!  MY JOB IS AT STAKE!" He cried frantically.

            No response.  Isono massaged his temples.  He had to get back in control, and to do that, he needed to calm down.  "Where are you, Master Mokuba?" He asked quietly.

            Still no response.  Isono found he was quickly losing his patience again.  "I am at Domino Square!" Mokuba declared at last.

            Before Isono could respond, Mokuba said, "I'm going in!"

            With that, a loud click on the other end informed Isono Mokuba had hung up.  Isono promptly erupted into a string of profanities.  His job was as good as gone.

            As Mokuba hung up, he looked at the titanic bubble of darkness that stood before him.  He was afraid.  He was terrified.  However, he was willing to face that fear for his brother.  Seto had always rescued him, whether it was from Pegasus, Malik, or the Big Five.  Now, it was his turn to do the rescuing.  "Ready or not, here I come…" he said.

            With that, he pushed forward on the control stick of the copter, diving into the darkness…

                                                                                                                       

            Seto returned his attention to the duel.  _"I can't lose my focus, not now."_ He mentally reminded himself.

            He drew the next card and grinned.  "It's time to get this duel moving!"  He announced.

            The others all looked tensely at him.  "I'll activate the trap card Deck Summoner!" He cried.

            With that, one of his face-down cards flipped up.  From it, two beams of light emerged.  "By permanently removing two cards of my monsters from play, this card allows me to special summon one level 8 monster from my deck.  You all know who it is!" He finished.

            The two lights absorbed La Jinn and Battle Ox and combined into a single ball of energy.  From it, a pair of silver blue wings emerged, followed by similarly colored arms and legs.  Finally, with a deafening roar, a serpentine head emerged as well, completing the form of Seto's legendary monster.  "COME FORTH, BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!" He cried.

Blue Eyes White Dragon

Atk: 3000

Def: 2500 

On command, the entirety of the titanic dragon emerged from the orb.  Kisara was taken aback.  The creature's body was the exact same color as her hair, its eyes the same color as hers.  She could feel a deep connection with the beast as soon as it emerged on the field.  "Blue Eyes White Dragon…" she repeated involuntarily.

            As the serpentine beast emerged from the ball of light, Seto's expression was not its usual look of prideful admiration that Yami Yugi had seen so many times before when the dragon had been summoned.  It was, instead, one of deadly determination.  It was an expression Yami Yugi knew well.  However, it was rarely used in association to the Blue Eyes, with which Seto had such a deep bond.  Furthermore, the last time it had been used with such intensity was a situation Yami Yugi still shuddered to think of.  _"When he threatened to commit suicide back at __Duelist__Kingdom__, to save Mokuba…"_ he reminded himself.

            Seto thrust his hand forward, his palm open, in Yami Yugi's direction.  "BLUE EYES, ATTACK HIS GIANT SOLDIER OF STONE!!!" He shouted.

            Roaring mightily, Seto's legendary monster drew back its head, its mouth sparkling with blue electricity.  Then, it thrust its head forward, and from its mouth, a thundering bolt of blue energy burst forth.  Yami Yugi's Giant Soldier of Stone was engulfed by the blast, its body charring to black and being blown to dust by the force of the attack.  "This ends my turn now, but soon, you will face the same justice as your monster, Pharaoh." Seto threatened.

            With the change of turns came the now-familiar occurrence of the memories around the group to resume.  However, this time, they would have another observer…

Seto Kaiba lay slumped against the wall of Seth's soul room.  When Seth had revealed what Yami had done in Ancient Egypt, it had shocked Seto.  Even now, the idea of the pharaoh being a murderer surprised him.  That shock had given the High Priest the edge he had needed, and he was able to thrash Seto harshly.  Now, he lay injured and barely aware of the events transpiring about him.  He knew all that was happening, but could not react to it.  However, when the memories began to replay again, he was finally able to gather enough strength to fully absorb them.  He immediately recognized the scene playing before him. 

Kisara lay on the silk-covered bed, tired.  Cuts and bruises were all over her body.  High Priest Seth kneeled down to the bed, applying a damp tissue to the girl's cut cheek.  "How are you feeling?" He asked.

            "Better." Kisara said, weakly.

            "Good." Seth replied curtly.

            He stood up to go grab a roll of bandages nearby, but was stopped when Kisara grabbed his arm.  Seth was surprised.  "Wait." Kisara said.

            Seth stared at her for a few moments, then attempted to rise again.  "Please, wait." Kisara pleaded.  Seth sighed. 

"What?" He asked, flatly.

"I never got to thank you." Kisara said.

"It is my duty as High Priest of the pharaoh to protect the innocent.  There is no need to thank me." Seth said.

"Yes, there is.  You saved my life from those villagers." She said. 

Seth kept his face stern.  "Thank you…" Kisara said, shakily, "…for everything."

Seto immediately recognized this as the flashback he had experienced when the sennen rod had acted up back at the museum.  Suddenly, his body felt stronger somehow.  It wasn't enough to allow him to stand, but somehow, it allowed him to feel more confident that he could win this battle within his own mind.  Turning his head to look at his ancient double, he pondered over what he had been told before being put in this miserable condition.  __

_  
"I trusted the Pharaoh.  He and I were friends who would gladly give our lives for each other." The priest said, his eyes conveying sadness the likes of which Seto had never seen._

_"However, one day, I had decided to take my younger brother with me to the Pharaoh's palace.  He had always wanted to go.  However, on the way there, we encountered the Pharaoh himself.  I didn't understand why he was there, until…until he…"_

_The words seemed too painful to speak.  However, it was not difficult for Seto to interpret their meaning.  The pharaoh had murdered Seth's brother.  _

That realization had been Seto's downfall in the fight, allowing the priest the chance to beat him into the broken state he was in now.  Now, as his strength slowly returned to him, he planned his counter-attack…

            Back at the battlefield, Kisara could only watch as the ancient version of Seto cared for the ancient version of herself.  Looking at the two, she wondered how much of what she felt for the present-day Seto came from this ancient past.  Her thoughts were interrupted, however, as Yami Yugi made his move.  "I'll play the magic card Sacrifice Reduction!  As long as this card is on the field, I can reduce the number of sacrifices needed to summon a monster by one.  Thus, I only need to sacrifice my Mystical Elf to summon THIS!"

            With this cry, Yami Yugi's Mystical Elf disappeared from the field.  In her place, a purple glow now emanated.  It soon began to take form.  As it did, light began to shoot from the shape in all directions.  At last, in a violet flash, the Dark Magician emerged. 

Dark Magician

Atk: 2500

Def: 2100

            Jounouchi jumped into the air.  "YES!" He hollered. 

            "Now Kaiba's really in for it!" He finished as he returned to the ground.

            Kisara looked at the hollering young boy.  Her face looked unusually calm, despite all that was happening.  "Don't be so sure, Jou," she analyzed, as if she had seen this kind of thing before, "the Blue Eyes does have more attack points than the Dark Magician."

            Jounouchi nodded.  "I know, but whenever Yugi's gotten his Dark Magician on the field before, he's always been able to pull through." He said.

            Kisara's expression didn't change.  "True, but Seto will protect that Blue Eyes fiercely.  Yugi will have a hard time getting rid of it."

            Jounouchi wanted to ask her how she knew so much about dueling, but chose to be silent.  He wanted to focus on the match.  He knew Kisara had a point, though.  Kaiba had always been protective of his Blue Eyes, and it did have more attack points.  Still, Yugi had always pulled through before.  This time would be no different, he hoped.  Still, there was a fire in Kaiba's eyes, in his dueling style, that Jounouchi had never seen, not even when he had dueled Yugi to save Mokuba from Pegasus.  "Be careful, Yugi." Jounouchi said reflexively. 

            Yami Yugi nodded.  "That will end my turn, Kaiba."

            Seto drew, and as the world of his own memories came back to life, he pondered over Yami Yugi's previous move.  _"His Dark Magician is 500 points weaker than my Blue Eyes…that face-down card may be a trap of some kind to destroy my dragon when I attack…"_

            Seto drew, and grinned.  Looking to the memories, his mood quickly changed.  He recognized the marketplace that led to the Pharaoh's palace instantly, and his whole body tensed in recognition.  Yami Yugi and Kisara both noted this.  _"This memory seems to have particular significance to the high priest…" _Yami thought.

            Walking through the market place was Priest Seto.  Skipping along beside him was the Egyptian version of Mokuba.  He seemed quite happy.  "I can't believe you're going to finally take me to see the Pharaoh's palace, brother!  I'm so excited!" the boy practically sang.

            Seth grinned at his joyous little brother.  "Well, Kisara needed a day-off from baby-sitting you while I was away with the other priests, and besides, if I didn't take you, you'd never stop asking me to." He said.

            Mokuba could only laugh.  As the two brothers drew closer to the palace, the crowds began to dissipate.  At last, it was just the two of them.  As they continued to march towards the palace, Seth became increasingly uneasy.  The silence was maddening, and something in the air had the priest on edge.  It didn't make him feel any better that rumors had been going around of a villainous tomb-robber who had managed to pilfer the tomb of the Pharaoh's father.  He himself had found no trace of a forced entry, save the missing sarcophagus.  He thus felt relieved when, after quite some walking, he saw his old friend, the Pharaoh.  Mokuba immediately kneeled in respect.  Seto bowed slightly.  "Greetings, Pharaoh.  I did not expect to meet you here."

            There was no response from the spikey-haired monarch.  Eyes covered in the shadow of his hair and golden headband, he began to walk towards Mokuba.  Seth did not know what, but something about the Pharaoh was wrong.  "I would like you to meet my younger brother Mokuba." He said, unease evident in his voice.

            The Pharaoh smirked cruelly.  Suddenly, in a single swift motion, he pulled out a knife from his shoulder, and before Seth could react, swung it straight into Mokuba's heart.  The Priest's face widened in horror.  The knife dug deeper into the boy's chest, allowing even more blood to spill from the wound.  Mokuba stopped breathing before he even had the chance to scream.  His face of terror quickly turning to one of rage, Seth whipped out his sennen rod, hoping to exact revenge on his friend-turned-murderer.  However, the Pharaoh simply turned to him.  He uttered, "I'm not finished yet," and disappeared in a flash.  For a moment, Seth only stood there, numb and unmoving.  At last, his senses returned to him, and he rushed to Mokuba's crumpled, bleeding body.  "No…" he whispered, "No, no, no, no, no…" he continued to say, cradling the limp child's body in his arms. 

            Yami Yugi looked as if he had seen a ghost.  Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu looked sick.  Kisara looked mournful.  Seto, however, showed only rage.  "Do you understand now?" He asked.

            Yami Yugi returned his attention to his opponent at that.  His face still held a look of incomprehensible shock.  He had just seen himself murder an innocent boy… a child who held no threat to him.  "NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND MY NEED FOR REVENGE?" Seto shouted at Yami Yugi.

            Yami Yugi could only stare silently at the blue-eyed champion.  He could not find any words to say.  What COULD he say?  He had no memory of the ancient past, no way of knowing for sure whether he truly had murdered the Egyptian version of Mokuba.  He could only imagine the torment of the High Priest.  At last, Seto broke the silence.  "THE TIME OF JUSTICE IS AT HAND!  BLUE EYES, ATTACK AND DESTROY HIS DARK MAGICIAN!" Seto cried, trembling with fury and excitement. 

            Yami Bakura was rather frustrated with this newest development.  He had hoped Kaiba's younger brother would not show up to the Shadow game.  "It seems a new development has risen." Yami Bakura's cloaked partner said.

            The thief grunted in frustration.  "I guess we'll have to step in early." He said.

**To be Continued…**            

                            __


	7. When It Rains, It Pourse

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: Another chapter!  Huzzah!  I'd say we're about halfway through "D&tD", and once I'm finished, expect one fan-fiction for each of the categories listed in my "favorites" list in my profile.  Also, before we begin, I'd like to mention a few events that did happen in my anime/manga fusion continuity.  They'll become important later on in the story, so pay attention:  
  
Death-T

Yugi vs. Kaiba's Dark side(aka Death Imposter)

Legendary Heroes

Remember these events.  Now, onwards!

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British).  Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on.  Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime.  This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur.  However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world.  In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time.  Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past.  Enjoy. 

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 7: When It Rains, It Pours

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

            "BLUE EYES, ATTACK HIS DARK MAGICIAN!!!" Seto Kaiba  cried.  Following its master's command, the silver dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a blast of white electricity.  The blast was aimed at the violet-armored Dark Magician.  As the whit bolt came careening towards its target, however, Yami Yugi shouted, "Activate face-down card!"

            With that, a card behind the Dark Magician flipped up.  "I'll activate my trap card Mirror Force!"

            From the card came a wall of crystal.  Emerging in front of the Dark Magician, the crystals absorbed the bolt of energy, and reflected it back at the ferocious dragon.  "Your Blue Eyes is finished!" Yami Yugi declared.

            "I wouldn't jump to conclusions if I were you!" Seto said. 

            With that, his own face down card flipped up.  "I activate Matter Transport Device!" He said.

            From the card emerged a strange cannon-like machine.  Emitting a rainbow-colored light onto the Blue Eyes, it managed to shrink the gigantic dragon and pull it into its nozzle.  This caused the reflected blast to miss its new target, and once it had passed, the silver dragon returned to the field.

            Jounouchi looked to Kisara.  "Guess you were right.  Kaiba is pretty interested in keeping the Blue Eyes safe." He said.

            However, the silver-haired girl paid no attention to Jounouchi.  She was focused solely on the match.  _"This is too weird…why is she so attached to Kaiba and the Blue Eyes?"_ he wondered to himself.

            Jounouchi acknowledged that most of Kisara's current affection to Kaiba came from her previous life with Priest Seth.  Still, he wondered about the Blue Eyes' connection to her.  As for Kisara, she pondered over everything that had happened thus far.  _"If these memories that Yugi's God Cards are playing back for us are true, that means that the spirit of the sennen puzzle murdered Seto's...no, _Seth's_ little brother back in Ancient __Egypt__.  Still, that doesn't make sense.  From what Yugi told me, the pharaoh was the good guy.  Why would he be a murderer?"  _

            As Kisara pondered over the intricacies of the situation, the battle between Seto and Yami Yugi continued.  "Now it's my turn!" Yami Yugi said. 

            "Not so fast, Pharaoh.  There is one last piece of memory for you to witness!" Seto said.

            Yami Yugi looked up at his opponent.  He knew from the edge in his voice that this memory was also unpleasant.  "Seto, I do not know everything about the ancient past, but I do know I would never mur…" he began.

            "SILENCE!" Seto interrupted.

            "You 'know' nothing!  The ritual you used to save yourself from my revenge wiped your memory clean, Pharaoh!  Do not deny what you can not understand!" The blue-eyed boy said, trembling with fury.

            _"Ritual?"_Yugi asked the ancient spirit.

            However, he noticed that Yami was not listening at all to him.  _"Yami?"_ he asked.

            The spirit did not respond.  _"Yami, is something wrong?"_ Yugi asked. 

            After a long silence, the spirit responded.  _"Yugi…Kaiba  is right.  I don't remember my past at all.  I can't say for sure if I did murder his brother."_

Shortly after Yami finished, Yugi chortled slightly.  This angered Yami.  _"Yugi, this isn't a joke!"_ the spirit snapped.

            Yugi immediately stopped chortling.  _"Yami," _he said, _"I know that it's not a joke, but after all we've been through, all we've done together, it's not important what Kaiba says."_

            Yami looked confused.  _"What do you mean?"_

            Yugi looked up at the spirit, his eyes conveying his admiration and love for the former pharaoh.  _"I mean, you may have been a murderer three thousand years ago, but you aren't now, and that's what's important.  Kaiba's thirst for vengeance is putting people in danger, and you and I both can't let him do that.  Whatever crimes you may have been guilty of don't matter anymore; you're a different person now than you were then."_

            Yami pondered this for a while.  It was true; his amnesia could very well have changed him from a murderous villain into a nobler person.  However, that very nobility was what was eating away at Yami now.  Just because he had been given a new start did not change what he had done.  How could he simply shrug off such an atrocity?  How could he blame Kaiba for what he was doing, especially since he knew he would act similarly in his shoes?  _"Yugi…"_ he started.

            Yugi, however, cut him off.  _"I know what you're going to say, Yami.  I know YOU.  And that's why I can't let you just surrender.  I…"_ The young boy stopped here, his eyes tearing slightly.

            _"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you…"_ he finished, brokenly.

            Yami put his hand on Yugi's shoulder, almost instinctively.  _"Then I will not surrender."_ Yami said.

            With that, Yami Yugi at last returned his attention to his enemy.  _"I will not lose, Yugi.  I promise, I'll win…for you."_ He said.

            With that, he prepared to make his move.  However, just as he prepared to watch the next memory unfold, the entire shadow bubble fell apart.  The last thing anyone saw before the memory world collapsed was Seth talking to a tall, bearded man with the sennen eye.  "Who dares to interrupt my Shadow game?" Seto barked. 

            "Isn't that a Kaiba Corp. helicopter?" Honda observed.

            Indeed, the intruder was indeed a copter marked with the Kaiba Corp. logo.  "SETO!"  A voice from the copter cried out.

            _"That voice…it can't be…"_ Seth thought, shocked.  "Mokuba?" He asked through Seto's body.

            "That's my name, don't wear it out!" the raven-haired boy joked. 

            "Mokuba, what are you doing here?" Jounouchi asked.

            The younger Kaiba brother didn't answer Jounouchi.  Instead, he was engaged in a staring contest with Seto.  At last, Seto broke the silence.  "Mokuba, you have to leave, immediately!" he shouted.

            Seth still couldn't believe his eyes.  His brother, or at least his reincarnation, was alive and well.  It didn't matter that wind from the twirling copter blades was beating into him like a hammer, or that his shadow game had been disrupted.  Mokuba was alive, and that was all that mattered.  Still, the pharaoh was also there, and Seth knew that meant trouble.  "No way!  I know you're not really Seto, so why don't you just let him go?" Mokuba demanded.

            Seto's eyes widened.  _"He knew instantly that I was in control of Seto's body…he really _is_ my little brother._" He thought, smiling at the raven-haired boy's ingenuity.

            "You're as smart as I remember you, Mokuba." Seto said.

            Mokuba's face turned grim.  "Maybe I didn't make myself clear: Get out of my brother, NOW!" he shouted.

            Deep within the corridors of his own mind, Seto Kaiba knew his chance to act was now.  If he didn't do something soon, he knew he would lose his last hope of beating Seth.  Distracted as he was by Mokuba, Seth didn't notice his modern-day self sneak up behind and grab him.  "NO," Seth shouted, "don't do this!  You're giving the pharaoh just the opportunity he needs!"

            "Thanks for the warning, but I can protect my own family!" Seto said, throwing Seth up against the wall. 

            As he slumped to the ground, Seth uttered a final warning.  "Mokuba…isn't the only one…in danger…"

            With that, the priest passed out.  At last, Seto had regained control of his body. 

            Dropping the sennen rod, Seto fell to his knees.  Immediately, Kisara rushed to his side.  "Are you alright?" she asked.

            He grunted slightly, gripping his forehead with the hand he had once held the golden rod in.  As he returned to his feet, he took note of how Kisara was sure to rise at the exact same pace, not bothering to mask that she was ready to catch him should he falter.  To his own surprise, Seto did not find the urge to protest, as he usually did when anyone offered their help to him.  _"What is it about this girl that makes me feel this way?  I know that, in the ancient past, she was the servant to my own ancient self, but that doesn't explain why she makes me feel…different."_ He pondered.

            Finally, Seto was able to stand.  Mokuba landed the helicopter nearby in a large open space.  Thanking his lucky stars everyone had been avoiding the area due to the shadow game, leaving the area open to copter landings, Mokuba quickly hopped out of the grounded helicopter and ran to his brother, almost knocking the elder Kaiba back to the ground again as he leapt into a hug.  "Seto!  You're OK!  I knew you could beat that spirit that possessed you!" the boy rejoiced.

            Seto grinned at his younger sibling.  He looked over to Yugi.  "I must…apologize…for any inconvenience my body may have caused during Seth's period of control." He said in his usual monotone, fumbling on the word "apologize" ever so slightly.

            Jounouchi blinked in shock.  It took him a few moments to fully absorb what had just occurred.  "Whoa, hold on.  Did Kaiba just _apologize?_  To _US?_" he blurted.

            Anzu whacked him on the shoulder.  "What planet are you on right now?" she hissed in frustration.

            Seto looked down at the rod in anger.  Picking it up again, he began to storm off.  Yugi, who was now back in control of his body, shouted after him, "Kaiba, where are you going?"

            The young CEO looked back at Yugi.  "I'm going to give the Ishtars a piece of my mind!" he said.

            Suddenly, a familiar voice filled the air.  "Ah, don't leave yet.  I won't have anyone to play with!"

            Yugi recognized the voice immediately.  "Bakura!" he said.

            As if on cue, the white-haired boy leapt from the sky as if out of thin air.  With him, a tall man in a white robe followed.  His face was hidden in the shadows of his hood.  Kisara looked over at him.  The possessed boy met her gaze.  "I believe you have something I want…" he said, dark energy crackling around his hand…

**To be continued…**

           


	8. The Three Dragons

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: Ugh.  Another late update.    I'm hoping more people will start reviewing, so I've turned off the "No anonymous reviews" option.  Now everyone can review my work! Hurray!  Also, I'm going to include the list of events that you need to know have occurred in my manga/anime fusion continuity in each A/N now.  They'll become important later on in the story, so pay attention:   
  
Death-T

Yugi vs. Kaiba's Dark side(aka Death Imposter)

Legendary Heroes

Remember these events.  Now, onwards!

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British).  Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on.  Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime.  This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur.  However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world.  In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time.  Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past.  Enjoy. 

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 8: The Bond of Dragons

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

            Kisara could only stare at Bakura as dark energy continued to surround his hand.  _"This is the person Shadi warned me about…but what does he want with me?"_ she wondered.

            Seto stood in front of Kisara.  "Hold on, Ryou.  There are some questions only Kisara can answer for me, so if you want her, you'll have to beat me for it!" he said.

            Bakura looked to his cloaked ally with a wide grin on his face, then burst out laughing.  Seto's face contorted in rage.  "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" he shouted in frustration, angry that his enemy wasn't taking him seriously. 

            Bakura turned to face Seto, amusement written all over his face.  "Even after 3000 years apart, even after death, you're still in love with her!" he said, again bursting into laughter. 

            Seto felt like running up to the white-haired boy and strangling him to death on the spot.  Him?  In love?  The very idea was preposterous.  It didn't help that Bakura's words had given Jounouchi ample opportunity to begin snickering behind Seto's back.  "You are out of your mind, Ryou.  My philosophy on love is that it makes you weak, you know that!" Seto retorted.

            Bakura stifled his laughter, then pointed at Seto for emphasis as he said, "You denied it at first the last time, too.  It took Kisara's death to get you to admit your feelings then, and I doubt that even 3000 years will change that!"

            Kisara stepped forward.  Without hesitation, she shouted, "You're wrong!  Things will be different this time!" 

            Bakura's laughter was gone in an instant, replaced instead with a silent grunt of annoyance.  Seto looked at Kisara in frustration.  He prepared to grab her arm and shove her aside.  _"No one fights my battles for me!"_ he thought.

            However, even as his hand reached out to her, he remembered their tour of Domino from earlier that day.  The same feeling of understanding washed over him, and he stayed his hand.  Suddenly, a titanic creature made of tan-colored stone landed in between Bakura and Kisara.  Seto instantly recognized the monster.  "The Millennium Golem!" he said aloud.

            "You will bring no harm to the third dragon on this day, tomb robber." A familiar monotone voice spoke.

            Yugi was the first to react.  "Shadi!" he declared.

            As if on cue, the mysterious Egyptian man appeared.  With everyone's attention on the new arrival, Seto saw his chance.  He winked at Mokuba, who instantly ran to his brother's side.  "Follow me." He whispered.

            Seto quickly grabbed Kisara's hand, Seto quickly ran off in the direction of the Kaiba Corp. building, with Kisara and Mokuba in tow.  "What's going on?" Kisara asked.

            "We're going somewhere safe where I can figure out what to do next!" Seto responded. 

            Bakura noticed their retreat, and stepped forward to stop them, but was painfully reminded of Shadi's presence when the Millennium Golem slapped him aside.  Skidding across the ground, Bakura stopped just short of crashing into a building.  Raising his head in anger, he looked at Shadi with unfettered rage.  "You will pay for that!" he barked.

            Standing up again, he looked to his cloaked companion.  "Find the three dragons," he said, "I'll deal with this nuisance!" he ordered. 

The cloaked man nodded, then ran after Seto, Kisara, and Mokuba.  The Millennium Golem prepared to stop them, but a blast of dark energy halted its attempt.  Bakura now had his Dark Necrofear card in hand, the monster on the card floating in front of him.              

             "Now then," Bakura said, "where were we?"

            Mokuba kept the pace with Seto, in spite of the elder Kaiba's longer legs and better shape.  Seto had let go of Kisara's hand, and she was now running close to him.  "How much longer to Kaiba Corp.?" Kisara asked.

            Mokuba answered in Seto's place, the latter busy taking something out of his coat pocket.  "Still a few miles.  Don't worry, though, my brother has a way to get us there in style."

            As Kisara wondered what Mokuba meant, she noticed Seto now held what looked to be a small radio.  "Kaiba Corp. BE-Motorcycle, pick-up, coordinates 55997!" Seto said, making sure to speak directly into the radio.  For a short while, the trio continued running until a loud screeching was heard.  Seto grinned momentarily, then turned to Kisara.  "Follow my lead." He said.

            From a nearby alleyway, a motorcycle designed to look like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon drove towards them.  "That bike…it's just like the Dragon you played…" Kisara noted, remembering the feeling of connection she had when Seto had summoned the beast earlier. 

            Mokuba nodded.  "Mm, hmm, the Blue Eyes White Dragon is my brother's favorite card!" he blurted excitedly.

            "Get on, both of you." Seto said, flatly.

            Mokuba and Kisara did as they were told.  Once they were on, Seto sat in front of them, gripping the bike's handlebars with great intensity.  "Brace yourselves!" he said, barely able to contain his excitement.

            He had been dieing to test his Blue Eyes motorcycle for some time now, and this was the perfect situation.  Revving the bike, he let it fly with great speed.  Focusing solely on the road ahead, he maneuvered the bike through the city streets.  Behind him, Kisara held onto Seto's waist tightly.  Somehow, the rush of sound and sights allowed her to collect her thoughts.  She had just learned that she was the reincarnation of a young Egyptian girl who had some kind of close relationship with a high priest, who Seto was a reincarnation of.  With that in mind, she regarded what she had said to Bakura before.  She knew she wasn't in full control of those words, and she wanted to know why.  Suddenly, a bright light emerged from Seto's pocket, interrupting her thoughts…

            Kisara now found herself wearing a white robe, standing in front of Mokuba, who was now dressed in a blue sleeveless shirt over his own white robe, with gold wristbands on both arms.  He was looking at Kisara with wide eyes.  "Tell me again about the Legend of the Three Dragons!" the young boy said excitedly. 

No longer in control of her own actions, Kisara grinned warmly.  "Very well, Mokuba.  As you know, our spirits contain the essence of who we are.  This essence can be manifested in the physical world in the form of a Kaa, a creature that reflects our innermost self.  Of course, there are people with personalities so similar that they have the same Kaa.  With so many people, it's easy to realize that there are thousands of each individual Kaa.  However, there is one Kaa so pure and powerful that only three exist."

"The Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Mokuba interrupted, his voice full of joy. 

"That's right." Kisara said sweetly.

"The three Blue Eyes White Dragons are said to be the strongest Kaa in existence, for they are the guardians of justice in this world.  If all three are gathered in one place, it is said their power rivals even the great Egyptian Gods.  One of the three Blue Eyes rests in you, Mokuba, and the second resides in your brother.  For years, the Pharaoh and his priests have searched for the third dragon, the one who will complete the trinity and create the ultimate guardian for our kingdom."

The story finished, Mokuba erupted into applause, catching the attention of Seto, who had just entered the room.  "My big brother sure made the right choice when he hired you to be my caretaker!" Mokuba said joyously.

"Yes," Seto said, catching Kisara off guard, "I certainly did."

Suddenly, everything around Kisara turned to black.  The next thing she knew, she was in between Seto and another man in a white robe with a gray beard whose right eye was made of gold.  Although she was back in control of her body, she noted that neither Seto nor the golden-eyed did not react to her presence, most likely meaning she could not be seen.  Thus, she decided to listen to their conversation.  "Well?  Does she have it?" the golden-eyed man asked.

"She does indeed possess the third Blue Eyes White Dragon Kaa, Akunadin…" Seto began, giving Kisara a name to attach to the golden-eyed man.

Akunadin interrupted Seto before he could finish.  "Wonderful!  You will finally control all three Blue Eyes White Dragons, my son!" he said excitedly.

_"Son?"_ Kisara thought to herself.

Seto looked to Akunadin, and sighed.  "I'm afraid it's not that simple.  As you know, the Blue Eyes is so strong because it contains a far greater amount of spiritual energy from its host than any other normal Kaa.  Because of that, removing it from its host could prove…fatal.  Mokuba's Blue Eyes Kaa obeys me because we are brothers, and thus, share a similar spirit.  It thinks of me as a substitute for Mokuba.  Kisara, however, is not related to me by blood.  If we were to take her Blue Eyes from her, she would die."

His speech finished, Seto folded his arms, awaiting his father's sound counsel.

"So?" Akunadin asked.

Seto turned rigid.  "What did you just say?" Seto asked, unwilling to believe his father had reacted so callously.

"What does it matter if the girl dies?  She is only a stepping stone to ultimate greatness!" Akunadin said.

Kisara noted that Akunadin had not said whose greatness she had become a stepping stone to.  Seto looked at Akunadin questioningly.  "How can you say that?  As priests to the Pharaoh, it is our duty to protect the sanctity of life in this kingdom.  To take one of those lives so easily would be to go against everything we stand for."

Akunadin started to laugh.  Seto failed to realize what was so funny.  "Don't be so naïve, son.  The only lives that matter are those in power.  All the rest are simply members of an endless rabble who exist only to raise those high up even higher."

Seto growled in anger.  "I refuse to hear any more of this!  Kisara is not to be harmed.  Do you understand, Akunadin?"

Akunadin stroked his beard thoughtfully.  "Yes," he said, "I do indeed."

"We're here." Seto said.

            Kisara looked around, and realized she was in the present again, now in front of the Kaiba Corp. building.  "But…the light from your pocket…" Kisara said, trying to understand what had happened.

Seto Looked at her oddly.  "The only thing in there is my three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards." Seto said.

The three entered the Kaiba Corp. building, Kisara piecing together what was happening.  Why had Seto's Blue Eyes cards reacted to her at that time, and not earlier?  Why hadn't she been allowed to see all that had happened in the past to allow for this to happen in the present?  All these questions and many others buzzed in her head even as she absent-mindedly followed Seto and Mokuba up the elevator.  As the trio exited, Seto led them to a nearby door.  Opening it, he led both of them into the room.  It was designed to be identical to an average living room.  A TV was located in front of the left wall, a couch several feet in front of it.  A miniature kitchen was located at the other end of the room, a bathroom to its right.  "Welcome to your new home, Kisara." Seto said.

**To be continued…**


	9. What Was and What Is

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: Sorry updates have been so slow lately. I've had summer camp for the past few weeks, so I haven't had time. Also, news of the upcoming "Yu-gi-oh!: Genex" anime, as well as the butcher job 4kids did to Seto's big decision to give Yugi the Devil's Sanctuary magic card, have kind of taken the wind out of my sails. Again, I'm doubling the chapter length to make up for it. Furthermore, as it is rather important for this chapter, these are the characters' ages, if only for this story:

Seto: 18

Mokuba: 14

Yugi and the gang: 16

Ishizu: 16

Malik: 18

Rashid(yes, he'll appear eventually): 20

Oh, and even though I'm fairly certain it's not in the Japanese version, I intend to use the sarcastic version of Seto's computer from the "Duel With a Ghoul" episodes, simply because I rather like it. Also, I'm going to include the list of events that you need to know have occurred in my manga/anime fusion continuity in each A/N now. They'll become important later on in the story, so pay attention:  
  
Death-T

Yugi vs. Kaiba's Dark side(aka Death Imposter)

Legendary Heroes

Remember these events. Now, onwards!

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British). Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on. Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime. This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur. However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world. In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time. Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past. Enjoy.

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 9: What Was and What Is

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

"My new home?" Kisara asked, stunned.

Seto nodded. "Until I know what it is Ryou wants from you, it's not safe for you to return home. This way, if Ryou tries anything, I'll know in a hearbeat."

Mokuba grinned widely. "Looks like your girlfriend's coming to live with us, Seto!" he laughed happily.

Kisara blushed wildly. Seto glared daggers at his younger brother. "Mokuba! Show some manners!" he scowled.

Mokuba sniggered quietly, but nodded. "I apologize for Mokuba's behavior. He's…energetic…" Seto said, stumbling to find a word to best describe his younger brother's manners.

Kisara, her face still bright red, simply nodded curtly. She walked into the room. After several moments, she turned to Seto. "Aren't you coming in?" she asked.

Seto shook his head. "Sorry. I have work to do, and it really can't wait."

Mokuba groaned loudly. "After all this, all you can think about is WORK?" the young boy asked, exasperated at his older brother's single-mindedness. Seto grinned. "Well, since I'm so busy, Mokuba, you can give Kisara a tour of the building." He said.

Mokuba paled. "WHAT? Tour duty? That's so bo-o-ring!" he moaned.

Seto's grin widened. "Sorry, but I'm too busy, and if Kisara is going to live with us, she'll need to know her way around the Kaiba Corp. building."

Mokuba stuck his tongue out at Seto. Kisara laughed quietly at the two brothers' taunting. The side of Seto she had seen earlier when they toured Domino, the side he had kept hidden so well back when they had faced Bakura, was showing now bright as day. She couldn't help but feel…attracted…to that side of Seto. However, his actions from before made it clear he far preferred that his kinder side be hidden from all but a select few. "Seto…" she said.

"Yes?"

"…I really appreciate all this… just so you can protect me…"

Seto laughed slightly, almost sadly. "I have my reasons."

With that, the CEO of Kaiba Corp. walked into the elevator across from the room.

Kisara thought of following, but chose not to. She looked back to Mokuba, who simply huffed. "I hate tour duty…" he said.

As the elevator slowly moved downwards, Seto stood in deep thought, staring intensely at the door. What Bakura had said before had rattled him more than he dared to admit.

_"Even after 3000 years apart, even after death, you're still in love with her!"_

_"It took Kisara's death to get you to admit your feelings then, and I doubt that even 3000 years will change that!" _

_"You denied it at first the last time, too_."

As avid a skeptic as he was to the idea of destiny, Seto simply could not help but feel nervous about continuing that philosophy after all that had happened, particularly if it put Kisara in danger. Speaking of Kisara, his admittedly sudden attraction to her lead credibility to Bakura's words. That was the part that frustrated Seto the most; no matter how much he told himself otherwise, he felt a connection with Kisara that he had never felt with anyone before. Without realizing it, he had been willing to put his complete trust in her. The last thing Seto Kaiba was interested in, however, was falling in love, particularly with someone with whom such a bond was destined. _"Although,"_ he thought bitterly, _"I suppose that's the only way it could ever happen with me."_

As the elevator stopped and its doors opened, Seto left it still thinking over his feelings on all that had occurred. He entered a large room filled with computers all lined in rows. During his Battle City tournament, this was where his technicians had kept track of duelists, as well as search for the Egyptian God Cards. However, with the tournament over, the room was unused. Walking up to the large screen located at the opposite end of the room, Seto pressed a few buttons on a nearby console. The screen in front of him came alive immediately, displaying the Kaiba Corp. logo on a silver background. "So very nice to see you again, Seto." The computer immediately spoke up.

Seto grinned. Due to Battle City, he hadn't used his A.I. computer for a while due to lack of time. Now, however, he needed its help. "Sorry if it's been too lonely for you while I was away," he said, "but I'm afraid catch-up time will have to wait until later. Right now, I need your help."

"No problem. Seeing as how the Kaiba Corp. security cameras are my eyes, I pretty much know what you've been doing lately anyway, including finally picking up a girlfriend." The computer said, earning a hard glare from Seto, although the blue-eyed CEO doubted that the computer noticed.

"As much as I'd love to argue with you on where Kisara and I stand, I need you to look up everything you know about her." Seto said, clicking another button on the console which caused a keyboard and chair to emerge from the ground.

Taking his seat, Seto put his hands at the ready. It had been a while since he had given his hacking skills a good run, and he couldn't wait to try now. "So, what do you want to know?" the computer asked.

"Anything. Kisara told me she grew up in an orphanage without ever knowing her parents or even her last name. I need more information than that."

"And you can't just ask her because…"

"Because I don't think even SHE knows the answers I need."

"That, or you're just shy."

"Just start looking."

Immediately, the KC logo was replaced by countless windows, appearing and disappearing in the space of a second, as the computer sifted through news archives and record halls in search of the data it had been sent to find. Finally, a window was selected that met the criteria. "These are the records of all the orphanages in Japan." The computer said.

Seto sifted through the countless files with ease, rapidly clicking on his keyboard. Finally, he noticed Kisara's name flash by. Stopping instantly, he saw that it was part of a list of names of people that had spent time at an obscure orphanage called the Nomiyuki Orphanage. Checking her profile, Seto read it aloud: "Found outside orphanage 8/18/86. Parents unknown. Last name unknown. First name left on tag around neck. Kisara."

"She's a regular Jane Doe, Seto." The computer commented.

"At least I know she's 18 years old, the same age as me." Seto said.

"Oh, yes, that just tells you volumes about her." The computer replied sarcastically.

Seto ignored the comment, and exited the Nomiyuki Orphanage file. "There has got to be more about her than this…" Seto said.

"If there is, it's very well hidden. I can't find any info…WAIT!" the computer started, then stopped as it came across a new file.

Seto looked up. He noticed the folder that had been brought up had the Kaiba Corp. logo on it, and was titled "gsp.html". Seto cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Odd…this is a Kaiba Corp. file, but I've never seen it before…"

"Maybe it's a pet project of the Big Five's…" the computer suggested.

"Impossible. I deleted all the files belonging to those miserable traitors."

"Well, it's obviously not yours, and if it isn't theirs, whose is it?" the computer asked.

Seto stared in thought for a long time. Looking to the title for a clue, he repeated it over and over in his head. _"gsp…gsp…gsp…"_

"Gozaburo's Secret Project." He finally said.

"What?" the computer asked.

"Gozaburo's Secret Project. That has to be what "gsp" is short for!" Seto said, excitedly accessing the file.

"What makes you so sure?" the computer asked, slightly worried over Seto's now-obsessive glare.

"I never had the chance to delete Gozaburo's old files when he was CEO of Kaiba Corp., and he's the only other person who could have bypassed the security of this part of the Kaiba Corp. mainframe to place this file here." Seto said.

"But why would it come up in our search for information on Kisara?" the computer asked.

Seto did not answer, as he was too busy trying to access the heavily protected file. Passwords, firewalls, and all other sorts of security programs blocked his access. _"Gozaburo really didn't want anyone to see this file…"_ he thought.

_"That probably means it was made so he could refer back to it later and keep track of progress on whatever he was up to without tipping any of his enemies off."_ Seto continued thinking, almost completely forgetting about his search for information on Kisara's practically non-existent past upon the discovery of this new secret his stepfather had hidden.

However, when he had at last completely breached the security, the first word he read was her name. "What in the…" Seto started, utterly confused how Gozaburo could've known about Kisara at all.

Seto checked the file's date. 8/18/96. That meant this was made the same year Gozaburo had adopted him! _"None of this makes any sense. How the Hell could Gozaburo possibly have known that Kisara even existed, let alone what orphanage she was at?"_

"Hello? Earth to Seto? I've been talking to you for the past five minutes!" the computer shouted, snapping Seto to attention.

"Sorry. This file's very confusing, that's all."

Seto then decided to read it aloud, partly to inform the computer of what was on it(although he doubted that was necessary) and also simply to remind himself this was real. "Kisara is ten years old now. She has progressed nicely since her rebirth. I do not doubt the fact that the three Blue Eyes White Dragons cards were produced on the same day she returned was more than coincidence. Without her, however, the cards are meaningless. To take control of them, I need her soul destroyed. However, I also need the other two dragons. It did not take long to recognize Seto in the newspapers as 'the orphanage Chess prodigy', and I knew that where he was, Mokuba had to be as well. Once I have them, I'll mold them to my will; I'll destroy their souls even without the sennen eye. I'll start with Seto. All I need to do is beat him enough…show him that compassion and friendship are illusions and nothing more. I'll move on to Mokuba next, and then all three dragons will be mine."

Seto could only stare at the screen in shock. Everything he thought he had understood about Gozaburo had been a lie; somehow or other, his stepfather was linked to Ancient Egypt and the sennen items.

"…and over here is the design room. This is where Kaiba Corp. technicians design and build Kaiba Corp. technology." Mokuba droned, obviously unenthused at showing Kisara around a fifty-story building.

Kisara followed Mokuba silently. She was too preoccupied with all that had occurred. She knew that she and Seto had a relationship in their past lives, although she wasn't sure what kind of relationship it was. Either way, she also guessed that Bakura somehow knew about the ancient connection between the three Blue Eyes White Dragons and Seto, Mokuba, and herself. That left the questions of what to do next, how to explain all this to the skeptical Seto, and who that white cloaked man with Bakura was. As all this flowed through her mind, she was still paying enough attention to her unwilling tour guide to notice that Mokuba had passed one of the rooms. "Mokuba," she said, "what's this room?"

Mokuba stopped dead in his tracks. "Um…it's not important…" he said, quietly and almost fearfully.

That didn't make sense to Kisara. The door to the room was far more elaborate than the others, with golden, elongated handles. "It looks pretty important to me." She said, opening it.

The room was rectangular, extending a good distance. In its center was a large black onyx table with seven seats around it. At the table's head was an eighth chair, far larger than the others. Mokuba hadn't noticed Kisara opening the door until she entered the room. When he did, he silently cursed to himself, a nasty habit he had picked up from his older brother. Following Kisara into the room with trepidation, Mokuba found the silver-haired girl looking around the room in interest. "Why didn't you want me to see this room, Mokuba?" she asked.

Mokuba sighed. She had him now. Any lie he told would be suspect to her after his attempt to pass the room failed, and he knew she wouldn't leave him alone until he answered her truthfully. "This is…was…the office of our stepfather, Gozaburo Kaiba." He said, his voice shaky in the face of having to remember the monstrous man who had adopted Mokuba and his brother ten years ago.

"Your stepfather?" Kisara echoed, wondering if perhaps this person, who she easily deduced Mokuba feared, had anything to do with Seto's inability to express his emotions.

"Yeah, although 'father' is a title he doesn't deserve! A real father cares for his kids! A real father would never do to his own son what he did to Seto!" Mokuba said, starting to tear up towards the end of his outburst.

Kisara immediately regretted forcing Mokuba into this uncomfortable situation. Seeing the young boy's eyes, so full of joy and life, immediately convey soul-shattering despair and regret was terrible. She kneeled beside Mokuba. "He destroyed Seto, Kisara…" Mokuba said, tears still in his eyes, although he fought ferociously to keep them from falling.

"Seto endured years of suffering Gozaburo's so-called 'lessons' to ensure I had a good future, but at the same time, he lost sight of himself…Gozaburo hurt him so badly and in so many different ways…he just couldn't be the Seto I knew and still survive being Gozaburo's son."

Kisara took in what Mokuba said, suppressing the urge to ask for more. She knew the basics, and pressing for more information on an obviously painful chapter of Mokuba's life would be unfair. However, just as instantly as he had saddened, Mokuba brightened again. "But that's where YOU come in!" the little boy said.

Kisara was now confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Oh, come ON! You can't tell me you don't know…?" Mokuba asked incredulously.

Kisara could guess where this was going by now, and remained silent. Mokuba sighed in exasperation. "He likes you. You like him. He needs someone who can see past what Gozaburo…did…to him, and see what he's really like, even when he can't see it himself anymore." He said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Kisara sighed as well. _"I was afraid of this…"_ she thought.

Putting her hand on Mokuba's shoulder, she said, "Mokuba…it's not that easy. Your brother…"

"Don't say you don't like him, 'cause I know you do!" Mokuba interrupted, still upbeat.

She laughed slightly, but continued, "It's not that I don't like him, it's just that he's…uneasy…about expressing his emotions, opening up to others."

Mokuba, to Kisara's surprise, didn't sadden at all. "I know, and that's exactly why he needs you! You're willing to accept him for who he is, while still helping him to become more like he was!"

Kisara prepared to respond, when a new voice came. "I'm afraid I can not allow that. Oh, and please get out of my office…"

_"Damn it, this isn't good!"_ Seto thought, closing the file quickly.

"What's going on, Seto?" the computer asked worriedly.

"Mokuba and Kisara aren't safe!" he shouted, quickly running out the door. Ignoring his computer's cries for further explanation, he simply kept running. _"I have got to find them NOW!"_ he thought desperately. Suddenly, he heard two familiar voices screaming as if in agony. "MOKUBA! KISARA!" He shouted, hoping that it was loud enough for them to hear him.

When there was no response, Seto simply ran even faster in the direction he had heard their screams coming from. _"Please let them be OK…"_ he begged, although to who he was unsure. At last, he came to the area he estimated the screams had originated. As soon as he realized where he was, he clenched his fists in rage. _"Gozaburo's office…"_ he thought with a mixture of overwhelming fear and undying rage.

The dark memories of his time with Gozaburo rushed him then, filling him with fear and self-loathing. Even now, it was if Gozaburo was watching him, laughing at his every move as a failure. For that one instance, Seto felt that the laughter was inescapable, and he considered not entering. However, just as suddenly, he could see Mokuba and Kisara right before him. "You're not alone…" he heard Kisara's voice.

Although he didn't fully know what was going on, he noted that his three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards were glowing from within the coat pocket he had them stored in. "I guess it's time to defeat destiny again…" he said.

Opening the doors, he entered the completely pitch-black room that had once been his stepfather's office. Although he used a room almost identical to it for his own office, Seto had decided to leave this room alone after he took over Kaiba Corp. It was, after all, the place where his stepfather had met his demise. "Mokuba? Kisara?" he called, although quietly.

He looked around the room desperately, his fear returning to him. He didn't know what he would do if they had been harmed, and it didn't help that he wasn't sure who the attacker even was. Still, he continued to look around the room. Suddenly, the room's lights turned on. Seto blocked his eyes, which had only now become accustomed to the darkness of the room. "Who's there?" he hissed angrily.

Blinking to adjust to the light, Seto looked around through the now-lit room to see where Mokuba and Kisara were and if they were OK. As his vision returned to him, he could see them both standing on the left and right sides of the chair that had once belonged to his stepfather. "Mokuba, are you and Kisara OK?" he asked.

When there was no response, he moved in closer to them. His eyes had finally adjusted to the brightness, and he realized that neither Mokuba nor Kisara were looking at him. They were simply staring blankly at the ground. It was a position all too familiar to Seto. _"They look just like Mokuba did when Pegasus…"_ he thought.

He cut his own thoughts short, however. Remembering what Pegasus had done to Mokuba before was bad enough, but he had also experienced that fate. He knew the soul-eating loneliness, the mind-numbing darkness, that was the result of a soul being trapped outside of its body. That Mokuba was experiencing that again…that Kisara was feeling it now…it was not a pleasant road to go down. He approached them cautiously, hoping beyond all hope that they were OK. However, as he moved towards them, the chair they stood next to swiveled around to face him. Seto stepped back in surprise. There, sitting in the exact same chair he had been in minutes before his death, sat Gozaburo Kaiba, the Sennen eye gleaming in his right socket. In his hand, he held two duel monsters cards, with pictures of Mokuba and Kisara in them. "Hello, Seto," he said, grinning viciously, "how very nice to see you again!"

**To Be Continued…**


	10. Katet

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: Ugh. This one got pushed back more than I would've liked. My birthday and subsequent vacation really threw me off. Sorry. Anyway, I'd like to give a big THANK YOU to all the positive reviews I've received. I hope I can keep pleasing you guys! Now a little explanation for this chapter's title, "Ka-tet". It's a term I encountered on the internet in relationship to the connection between Yami and Zorc Necrophilius, the Dark God. It means they are bound to each other by Ka, their spirit. This chapter deals with the connections between Seto, Kisara, and Yugi. Just thought I'd let you know. since D&tD is reaching its heart-stopping finale, all chapters will be 8 pages from here on out instead of the usual 4. Furthermore, as it is rather important, these are the characters' ages, if only for this story:

Seto: 18

Mokuba: 14

Yugi and the gang: 16

Ishizu: 16

Malik: 18

Rashid(yes, he'll appear eventually): 20

Also, I'm going to include the list of events that you need to know have occurred in my manga/anime fusion continuity in each A/N now. They'll become important later on in the story, so pay attention:  
  
Death-T

Yugi vs. Kaiba's Dark side(aka Death Imposter)

Legendary Heroes

Remember these events. Now, onwards!

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British). Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on. Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime. This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur. However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world. In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time. Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past. Enjoy.

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 10: Ka-tet

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

"You…" Seto said, stunned, but refusing to show it in his body or voice.

Gozaburo, Sennen eye gleaming in his right socket, simply grinned. Placing Mokuba's and Kisara's soul cards face down on the table, he folded his hands and rested his chin on them. "Hello to you too, son."

"STEP-son!" Seto added venomously.

Gozaburo simply grinned. Seto's whole body shuddered in rage. He didn't know how Gozaburo had obtained the Sennen eye, nor did he really care. All that mattered was that he was alive somehow, and holding his brother and…friend…captive. Seto noted the Sennen eye glowing gold. He wondered if Gozaburo was going to take his soul away from him as well. Instead, the former-CEO of Kaiba Corp. simply reared back his head and laughed sickeningly. When at last he stopped, Gozaburo said, "No, Seto, I'm afraid I can't take your soul from you without due process. Still, I find it so amusing that you're so willing to sacrifice yourself for these two. Didn't I teach you anything?"

Seto snarled in anger at the arrogant man. "The only lessons I ever learned from you were how to be miserable!" he said, struggling to keep in control of his anger.

Gozaburo chuckled, unfolded his hands, and picked up the two soul cards. Putting them in his pocket, he said, "As I mentioned, I can't take your soul without due process. It is protected by your ancient priest's blood…"

Seto narrowed his eyes. "You mean, because I'm the reincarnation of the Priest Seth."

Gozaburo grinned coldly. "Indeed. A priest of your ranking must be defeated in a Shadow game to have his soul claimed by darkness. Therefore, I'll be waiting for you at the place that it all started. Be there before sunset, or I'll tear these two cards to pieces, and you'll never see your brother OR your lover again!" Gozaburo said. His eye exploded into light, engulfing the room. When it dimmed, Gozaburo, as well as Mokuba's and Kisara's bodies, were gone. Seto balled his hands into fists, and pounded the nearest wall. "DAMN IT!" he screamed with all his fury.

Yugi surveyed the ruins that were once Domino Square. It was fortunate that no one had been there, although Yugi suspected Seto's earlier rampage had the citizens of Domino all so scared they refused to leave their homes. He turned to Shadi, who continued to float around the premises. This was around the seventh circle that the ancient spirit had done, and it was getting on Yugi's nerves. "Shadi, Bakura is long gone, OK?" he asked.

Indeed, shortly after Yugi had seen Seto, Mokuba, and Kisara run off, Bakura had sacrificed his Dark Necrofear to call upon his Dark Sanctuary magic card, and, with its wandering spirit distracting his enemies, had made his escape. Still, twenty minutes later, Shadi continued to search for signs of the elusive thief. Seeing as how Shadi continued to ignore him, Yugi instead turned to Yami for a speaking partner. _"So where do you think Kaiba, Mokuba, and Kisara went?"_ he asked the pharaoh.

_"I hope somewhere safe. I noticed that Bakura's ally disappeared at the same time those three left."_

Yugi pondered this for a moment. His thoughts were cut short by Jounouchi, who approached the young duelist on the stone he sat on. "Yugi, why don't we just leave already? We'll find Kaiba, Mokuba, and Kisara later, but we don't need to stick around with _him!_" he said.

Yugi sighed. "I don't like it much either, Jounouchi, but I think Shadi can help Yami and I figure out how to use the Egpytian God Cards to reclaim Yami's memory, and until he's ready to talk, I can't leave."

Jounouchi put a hand to his temple in exasperation, but said, "OK, Yugi. I'll wait here with you, then."

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Jou."

"What are friends for?"

Yugi grinned, yawned slightly, then resumed pondering over what Yami had told him. After several minutes, Shadi finally stopped walking. "The rod." He said.

Yugi looked up at him in confusion. "The Sennen Rod is not with Seto Kaiba, nor is it here." Shadi observed.

Jounouchi ruffled his hair furiously. "IT TOOK YOU ALL THIS TIME TO FIGURE THAT OUT?!?" he shouted.

Shadi looked at him blankly. "I sensed the rod's presence here, even after the three dragons left. However, it is now gone. I fear the thief has it."

Yugi gulped. "That can't be good. It's Bakura's goal to collect all seven Sennen items, and now that he has two, he's even more of a threat."

Shadi ignored Yugi's comment. "We must find him quickly."

The ancient guardian began to leave, but Yugi stopped him. "Wait, Shadi! I need to know something."

The Egyptian man turned to Yugi, awaiting his continuation. "How do I use the three Egyptian God Cards to help Yami restore his memory?" he asked, his eyes pleading and wide, hoping for something, anything, to help his other self.

Shadi's face was neutral as he answered, "The time will come when the Cards will open the way of memory." He said blankly.

Yugi clasped his hands in frustration, struggling to keep calm in the face of Shadi's natural indifference. "I know that part. What I don't know is how to tell if the time is right."

Shadi remained silent for a while. He finally said, "There is a battle in the present that must be settled before the battle in the past can begin. When the three dragons are at last joined in body and soul, the battle of the present will be finished, and the pharaoh may journey to the past."

With that, the spirit walked away in search of his target, while Yugi was left to digest what he had just been told. _"The soul of the High Priest and the soul of the Pharaoh are eternally intertwined…Perhaps the soul of the High Priest must be put to rest before I can reclaim my memory…"_ Yami contemplated.

_"That sounds about right to me. Let's go with Shadi; maybe we can help Kaiba out!"_ Yugi responded.

Yami thought about that for a moment. _"Very well."_

Yugi grinned. _"Just remember, if we meet up with Kaiba, be nice."_

Yami laughed slightly. _"I make no guarantees."_

It hadn't taken Seto long to discern what Gozaburo had meant when he had said to meet him at "the place that it all started".

_"The orphanage he adopted me from."_ He thought bitterly as he mounted his Blue Eyes White Dragon motorcycle.

Driving off from the private garage the motorcycle was kept in, Seto pondered how this was going to work out. He had no doubt Gozaburo intended to duel him in a shadow game, and had brought his duel disk and deck with him. However, he had no idea what kind of deck Gozaburo would use, nor what his strategy would be. The old man had despised games, and if he had even had a deck all those years ago, Seto didn't know of it. Either way, Seto knew he would be flying blind against an opponent against whom defeat was not an option. Speeding along, he began to contemplate his vision of Kisara and Mokuba before he had talked to Gozaburo. His Blue Eyes White Dragons had been glowing, just like they had when he had taken Kisara and Mokuba to the Kaiba Corp. building. He knew there was a connection between the three of them and whatever had happened 3000 years ago in Ancient Egypt, but he still didn't know exactly what. However, he had a feeling he was going to find out when the cards began to glow again, engulfing him in their warm light…

When Seto's eyes could again see, he was confronted with a sight that chilled him to the core. Dressed in the garb of the high priest Seth, he held Kisara, blood dribbling down her face and all over her body, in his arms. He noticed that he while he could see through the priest's eyes, he was not in control. His theory was confirmed when he began speaking against his will. "Kisara…are you…I…what happened here?" his body asked against his will, its voice afraid and uneven.

She placed her reddened hand on his cheek. "I h…heard about…Mokuba…I…I'm so…so sorry…Seth…"she said.

Seto couldn't help but smile bitterly. Even as she died, she could think only of her new family's well-being. "It was the pharaoh, it had to be! First, he killed Mokuba…and now…" Seto said, struggling with all his force to keep from crying and exposing weakness.

Her hand trembling, Kisara slid it down to Seth's shoulder. "At least…I can protect you with the light of my spirit…"

With these words, Seto could feel the life slip away from Kisara. Her hand fell limp to the ground, and within Seto, and Seth as well, an incredible rage emerged, one that Seto had never felt before, not even when he had been defeated for the first time by Yugi. Almost as if in reaction to his anger, the Earth shook, and from Kisar's still body, a light blue mist emerged from her mouth. Soon, it began to take shape: Wings, a tail, and a long, serpentine neck all formed together into the might Blue Eyes White Dragon. Standing in front of it, Kisara in his arms, Seth screamed to the sky, in unison with the dragon's own furious roar, "REVENGE!!!"

The next thing Seto knew, he was walking towards the palace of the pharaoh. To his right, an old man in a tan robe with the sennen eye was talking to him. "My son, are you sure you want to do this? Fighting the pharaoh could be dangerous."

Again, Seto spoke without wanting to. "Don't worry, Akunadin. I hold all three White Dragon Kas. Not even the Pharaoh can stand up to them. I will have my vengeance."

A final jump placed Seto within the collapsing chamber of the pharaoh, the same place he had seen when he and Yugi had dueled at Battle City. There stood the pharaoh, gripping the sennen puzzle, bloody and battered. "Seth…this is the only way…" he said.

Seto, still not in control of what he was doing, spat his own blood at the pharaoh's feet. "This catastrophe is of your making, murderer!" he said, his voice dripping with hatred.

The pharaoh could only look at him with sorrow in his eyes. Speaking a chant in Egyptian, he began to hold on even tighter to the sennen puzzle as it exploded into golden light. As his rod also began to glow, Seto gripped it as he shouted, "PHARAOH! I WILL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL THE END OF TIME TO GET MY VENGEANCE!"

And with that, both their bodies fell limp, the items they had held now containing their spirits.

Seto immediately snapped back to reality. Realizing that he was still driving on his cycle, he sighed in relief when he saw he hadn't crashed, but was still riding towards the orphanage. Still keeping track of the road, he contemplated what he had just seen, combined with what Gozaburo had told him, as well as the memories he had seen while Seth had possessed his body. At last, the full story was there for him to see and think about. All the facts pointed at the pharaoh murdering Kisara, but that didn't add up for Seto. The Pharaoh had no reason to kill Kisara or Mokuba. He imagined that, for Seth, having witnessed the event for himself, such reasoning was not available. However, removed as he was from the actual murder, he could see it differently. Gozaburo had kidnapped the modern-day Mokuba and Kisara, so he figured into this somehow too. However, he hadn't seen an Egyptian version of Gozaburo in any of the memories. The closest person he had was Akunadin, and the fact that Gozaburo had the sennen eye leant credence to the idea that Gozaburo was Akunadin's modern incarnation. Speeding along the road, he began to think of Yami. Was this what he felt when his friends were in danger? Was this weight of the ancient past the same for Yami as it was for him? Suddenly, Seto could see Yami's silent longing, his yearning to know of his past, as he never could before. He too now had the need to know, in full, what he had been 5,000 years ago, for without that knowledge, he was unsure if he could save Mokuba and Kisara. Now, his thoughts turned to the blue-haired girl. It was hard to believe that he had only met her the day before, but that was how it was. When he had been in the memory, her limp body in his arms, he felt a rage within him that burned like an inferno. He could no longer deny that he felt something for her, but years under Gozaburo's tutelage had shown him that trusting such emotions could be dangerous. Though he hated admitting it, Seto had lied back at the Kaiba Corp. building; Gozaburo had taught him never to show weakness to anyone, or they would destroy him. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he could never forget that painful lesson. As much as he cared for Kisara, he still could not shed the knowledge that he would be exposing himself to a world of hatred and rejection. As all these thoughts buzzed through his head, Seto saw the all-too familiar entrance gate to the orphanage. Stopping the bike, he hopped off and inserted his three Blue Eyes White Dragons into his deck, which he then placed in his duel disk. "This is it, Gozaburo…" he said, stoically, entering the dreary, long-shut down orphanage…

Ishizu, Malik, and Rashid all sat looking at the ruins of the door to their museum. When Seto had taken the sennen rod, he had almost immediately gone mad. The siblings knew this was due to Seth possessing his body, using the rod's destructive powers to destroy the museum door. "Are you sure we did the right thing, sister?" Malik asked, leaning on the wall, his arms folded in calm collection.

Ishizu sighed. "Sometimes, the right path is the hardest to follow. What Kaiba faces now will be his greatest challenge, but it is one he must face or else he will never be complete."

The young girl turned to her tall brother, Rashid. "Rashid, I wish the pharaoh to know that Kaiba is at the Domino orphanage. Find him and give him this information."

Rashid nodded. "Do you wish to ride with me, Malik-sama?" he asked his younger brother.

Malik grinned. "Why not? Let's go."

Yami Bakura could not have been happier. Everything he had set up was going perfectly, and soon he would have the ultimate power. Leaping along from roof to roof, the white-haired boy finally arrived at his destination, the Domino museum. Standing there, waiting for him, was Gozaburo Kaiba. Yami Bakura landed next to the gray-haired businessman. Handing him a Duel Disk and the Sennen rod, he asked, "Do you have the other two dragons?"

Gozaburo nodded. "Seto will be here soon, and I don't doubt Yugi will eventually follow him. I suggest you prepare for the young pharaoh." He said.

"Sounds good." Yami Bakura said.

Suddenly, a voice cried out, "GOZABURO!"

"He's here! Go!" Gozaburo said.

Yami Bakura nodded, and leapt away just as quickly as he had come. Gozaburo slapped on the Duel Disk and inserted his deck into it. _"You won't know what hit you, son."_ He thought dryly.

Looking up from his wrist, he found himself looking directly at an approaching Seto. His white duster fluttering behind him, the brown-haired CEO looked every bit as regal and menacing as a king coming to execute a traitor. Seto at last stood in front of his former step-father, staring at him with eyes full of burning hatred. "I'm going to assume that you know how to play this game, old man?" he asked, his voice scathing.

Gozaburo didn't respond, instead switching his duel disk into its playing mode. Seto followed suit. Both handed their decks to each other, and began shuffling. As they did, Seto asked, "Tell me something, Gozaburo; your goal is to control my three Blue Eyes, isn't it? Why not just take them?"

Gozaburo laughed coldly. "Holding the cards isn't enough; they obey the human to whose soul they are bound. To control them, the soul they are bound to must be destroyed. You remember when Yugi dueled your dark half? You called out to your Blue Eyes when your evil half ordered it to attack, and it stopped when it heard the call of its true master. You could've done the same thing with Pegasus if you had known."

Seto did not answer, and he and Gozaburo returned their respective decks to each other. Seto drew his cards, and waited for what he knew to be inevitable. As Seto knew it would, darkness began to pour forth from Gozaburo's sennen eye, incasing them in a shadow bubble. "A shadow game. How predictable." Seto sneered.

"This shadow game is called a deck-master duel. It's like a normal duel, save for one new rule: You must select a monster from your deck and make it your deck-master. It is kept out of play unless you order it to come to the field, and it is granted a special ability. Can you handle all this, son?" Gozaburo responded.

Seto nodded. "I choose Lord of Dragons to be my deck-master!" Seto cried.

Lord of Dragons

Atk: 1200

Def: 1100

Deck-master Ability: Pay half of your life-points. Draw 3 cards. Special summon any dragon-type monster you draw. All other types of cards are discarded. This effect can only be used once per turn.

From Seto's deck emerged the spell-caster, dressed in the skeleton of a dragon, black cape flowing behind him. The dark-skinned sorcerer took its place at Seto's side. "Now I choose MY deck-master: Possessed Dark Soul!" Gozaburo called.

Possessed Dark Soul

Atk: 1200

Def: 800

Deck-master Ability: Take control of one monster on your opponent's side of the field until it is destroyed or removed from play. Pay 1000 lifepoints for each level star the monster has. This effect can only be used when your opponent has two or more monsters on the field. This effect can only be used once per turn.

As its name was called, the burning demon appeared alongside its master. "A fitting deck-master for you, Gozaburo." Seto spat.

Gozaburo merely laughed. Seto looked at his opening hand. _"Nothing too special…"_ he noted.

Seto was uncomfortable to note the similarity of this situation to the one with Pegasus: His opponent had the sennen eye, which made Seto's strategies an open book, and if Seto lost, Mokuba and Kisara would be gone forever. The only difference was there was no Yugi to bail him out this time. _"I won't _need _him to bail me out this time!"_ he reminded himself harshly.

Gozaburo, however, could only laugh. "Oh, I disagree. You CAN'T win this duel! You're destined to lose!" he said.

Seto began to laugh. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

Seto looked up at his step-father, his face determined and ready. "Haven't you heard, Gozaburo? I don't BELIEVE in destiny!"

**To be Continued…**


	11. Duel of Darkness

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: I'm SO sorry this came so late. As I already posted in a note (which deleted), my internet hadn't been working for a while. It's finally back up, but it still took me a while to post this because of school work. Ah, well. I'm back, and ready to bring this baby to its conclusion. In case anyone's wondering why I chose to use the Deck-master rule system, it's because I thought it was just so cool in the show. I suggest anyone who actually plays the Yu-gi-oh! Card game tries it out. I have, and it was a blast! Oh, and I know that the deck-master ability I gave to Lord of Dragons isn't the same as in the show, but I like mine more. Since D&tD is reaching its heart-stopping finale, all chapters will be 8-16 pages from here on out instead of the usual 4. Furthermore, as it is rather important, these are the characters' ages, if only for this story:

Seto: 18

Mokuba: 14

Yugi and the gang: 16

Ishizu: 16

Malik: 18

Rashid(yes, he'll appear eventually): 20

Also, I'm going to include the list of events that you need to know have occurred in my manga/anime fusion continuity in each A/N now. They'll become important later on in the story, so pay attention:

Death-T

Yugi vs. Kaiba's Dark side(aka Death Imposter)

Legendary Heroes

Remember these events. Now, onwards!

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British). Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on. Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime. This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur. However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world. In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time. Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past. Enjoy.

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 11: Duel of Darkness

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

Gozaburo and Seto, their deck-masters by their sides, stared at each other intensely. "Since you don't believe in destiny, Seto, you can make the first move!" Gozaburo sneered.

Seto nodded. Drawing, he stated, "I summon Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in Defense Mode!"

Dragon Dwelling in the Cave

Atk: 1300

Def: 2000

As the large, jade-scaled dragon emerged, it flopped into a lying position, snorting smoke from its nostrils. "I'll set two cards face-down, and that ends my turn!" Seto said.

Gozaburo laughed. "HA! I see you intend to destroy the next monster I summon with that face-down Trap hole, than sacrifice your Dragon Dwelling in the Cave to summon Luster Dragon! Well, I'm about to wipe that strategy out!" Gozaburo boasted.

Seto froze. _"He can see my cards, just like Pegasus! Damn that sennen eye!"_ he mentally cursed.

"Now, now, watch your language!" Gozaburo mocked.

Seto glared harshly at him. He knew that with the sennen eye, Gozaburo could see all the cards he had, and know his strategy instantly. Still, he refused to surrender, especially not to Gozaburo.

"I play the magic card Heavy Storm to wipe out your Trap Hole and Shadow Spell cards!" Gozabruo declared.

With that, a giant tornado emerged from Gozaburo's duel disk, striking the two cards Seto had played face down and destroying them. "Now, I play one card face-down and activate the magic card Fissure, destroying your Dragon Dwelling in the Cave!"

With that, a crack appeared in the ground, eventually growing into a full-spread chasm. From within, a bony hand shot up, grabbing Seto's only monster and dragging it under. "Now I summon Giant Soldier of Stone in attack mode!" Gozaburo declared.

Giant Solider of Stone

Atk: 1300

Def: 2000

As the giant granite warrior appeared, Gozaburo simply pointed at Seto. This gesture was enough to signal to the monster to draw its two swords, which soon crashed down onto Seto's shoulders.

Seto: 6700

"To end my turn, I'll play one card face down. Back to you, son, although I doubt Luster Dragon, Crush Card Virus, and Return from the Different Dimension will help you any!" Gozaburo laughed.

His shoulders numb from the Giant Soldier's attack, Seto barely managed to draw, aware that Gozaburo already knew he had drawn his Virus Cannon magic card. _"He knows my entire hand, and I don't know even one card from his deck!"_ Seto thought.

Yugi could not remember the last time he had run for so long. Shadi had been determinedly going in one direction, floating quickly, for the past half-an-hour. Hoping the ancient spirit could help him find Kaiba, whose conflict needed to be resolved before Yami could journey to the past, he had followed him. "Where…exactly…are we going, Shadi?" Yugi asked between gasps for breath.

"We seek the thief Bakura, and I believe he is somewhere near. I sense it." Shadi droned.

Suddenly, Yugi heard a loud revving sound coming towards them. Turning around to see what it was, he was pleasantly surprised to see Rashid driving his motor-cycle, Malik riding in the side-car. "Pharoah! Stop! We need to talk to you!" Malik cried.

Yugi stopped, as did Shadi. This allowed for a panting Jounouchi to finally catch up to them. "Yu…gi…never…do…that…again." He said, breathing heavily.

Rashid and Malik stopped next to the trio and stepped out to meet them. "Hello, Malik." Yugi said.

"Greetings, pharaoh. I bring you urgent news." Malik said, bowing slightly. As he rose again, he noticed Shadi, who he had not seen before, and tensed. He recognized the turbaned man from his childhood, and remembered immediately that his presence was usually a harbinger of disaster. Calming himself, he continued to Yugi, "Ishizu has asked I inform you that your friend Seto Kaiba is at the Domino Orphanage."

"We believe you should go there and join him." Rashid finished for his younger brother.

Yugi nodded. "Mind giving us a ride?" he asked.

"Not at all," Rashid said, "though it may be a little crowded.

"ANYTHING will be better than more running." Jounouchi groaned.

"I will go my own way." Shadi said, and with that, headed off.

Jounouchi got into the side-car with Malik, while Yugi got into the main seat with Rashid. As he sat down, Yugi turned to Malik. "Malik, one thing doesn't add up. I realize that the Egyptian versions of Seto, Mokuba, and Kisara all held a Blue Eyes White Dragon. The legend said there were only three in existence, so how come four Blue Eyes cards were produced in this time?"

Malik shrugged. "A mistake of Pegasus', I suppose. Still, that is why Kaiba destroyed it, even if he didn't know it. It was an imbalance in the equation, and Kaiba, the true master of the White Dragon, was drawn to balance it out."

Yugi nodded in agreement. With that question answered, the group drove onwards to the Domino orphanage.

Seto looked over his hand. The only monster he had was Luster Dragon, and he couldn't summon it without another monster. He would have to let Gozaburo get another direct attack at him. _"Still,"_ he thought, _"that doesn't mean I can't damage his deck."_

"I play the magic card Virus Cannon, removing ten magic cards from your deck!" Seto announced.

The spider-legged machine appeared, launching its colorful blast at Gozaburo. Hitting his duel disk, Gozaburo could only watch as the blast caused 10 magic cards to fall from his deck. "Nice move, Seto. However, I was anticipating it! I activate my face-down trap card, Reaper of Spell! When I lose 5 or more magic cards from my hand or deck, my Reaper of Spell allows me to gain 1,000 lifepoints for each magic card I lose!" he responded.

Gozaburo: 18,000

Seto's face paled. He hadn't even touched Gozaburo yet, and now, his opponent had more than 10,000 life-points. This duel was going badly, quickly. "I end my turn…" Seto said through gritted teeth.

"Excellent! I'll go now!" Gozaburo said, his voice filled with malicious glee. "Attack him directly again, Giant Soldier!" Gozaburo cried. As before, the soldier's gigantic swords collided into Seto.

Seto: 5400

"Now then, I'll play another face-down card and end my turn." Gozaburo finished.

Seto drew. He was relieved to see it was a monster, Battle Ox, which he summoned to the field in attack mode.

Battle Ox

Atk: 1700

Def: 1000

_"Attacking with that face-down card's risky, but I have to do it…" _Seto reasoned, praying even as he announced the attack that this was the right move, for he could not afford another direct attack.

Thus, the armored Minotaur's ax fell towards Gozaburo's soldier. Seto's fists clenched in excitement when Battle Ox cut through Gozaburo's Stone soldier, reducing it to rubble with a single slash.

Gozaburo: 17,600

It wasn't much, Seto admitted, but it was a start. Hopefully, Gozaburo didn't have any good moves to make just yet and he could finally get into this duel for real. "That ends my turn, old man." Seto said, confidence returning to his voice.

Gozaburo snorted in frustration. "Don't get cocky, boy! You may have gotten one attack in, but I know your whole hand, and I know your monster's unprotected! I summon one monster face-down in defense mode and end my turn." He said.

Seto grinned. Though Gozaburo could see his hand, he could not control what cards he drew, which meant that as long as Gozaburo didn't get anything too good before Seto did, Seto still had a chance. Seto drew Monster Reborn, then ordered another attack by Battle Ox. However, it was a decision he quickly regretted as he saw the monster he had attacked: Morphing Jar!

"Well, well, where's your bravado now, Seto?" Gozaburo asked snidely as both he and Seto sent their hands to the graveyard, drawing new ones to replace them.

Seto frowned. His new hand was good, but he did not like that Gozaburo had been able to draw five cards. The more cards he drew, the better chance he had of getting something to devastate Seto. Still, Seto went along with it for now. "I'll end my turn by playing one monster face-down in defense mode." He said.

Gozaburo grinned. "Good! First, I play Dian Keto the Cure Master to restore 1,000 of my lifepoints!" he said, causing a bright glow to fall upon him.

Gozaburo: 18,400

"Next, I activate my deck-master's special ability to take control of your Battle Ox!"

With that, the fiery spirit that stood by Gozaburo flew at Seto's monster, entering its body. For a brief moment, Battle Ox's eyes flashed with fire, and then the minotaur disappeared from the field, reappearing in front of Gozaburo. With that, the Possessed Dark Spirit flew out of Battle Ox, resuming its place by Gozaburo. "Now _your _monster is _my _monster, and all I had to do was pay 1,000 life-points for each level star it had." Gozaburo laughed.

Gozaburo: 14,400

"However, just so that's not too much of a problem, I'll activate my trap card Life-absorbing Machine!" Gozaburo said.

With that, Gozaburo's trap card revealed itself. The card had a picture of a metallic spider-like creature sucking energy from an elderly man. "Whenever I pay life-points, this card gives me half of the life-points I lose back to me!" Gozaburo explained.

Suddenly, the metallic spider in the card's picture appeared on the field, bathing Gozaburo in an eerie light.

Gozaburo: 16,400

Seto groaned in frustration. _"His strategy seems to be to heal himself and then use cards that require the payment of lifepoints." _He noted.

_"That means that moves that would normally be considered too risky would be easy for him to pull off…"_ Seto worried.

He had known this was going to be a tough fight from the start, but now the true difficulty of Seto's situation was beginning to sink in. Gozaburo could view his every move and know his every strategy, while Seto was stuck barely able to fend him off. _"It can't end like this!" _he thought, his eyes closed in anger.

_"Mokuba…Kisara…I can't fail them…but how can I beat him?"_ he pondered.

His eyes still closed, Seto could only think of his inevitable defeat.

_"NO! I won't give up on them! There's a way to win! I KNOW IT!" _he mentally screamed to himself.

Seto drew his next card. It was his Matter Transport Device trap. "I'll play this card face-down and end my turn." Seto said.

Gozaburo smirked cockily. "Your Matter Transport Device can't protect you from Battle Ox's attack, Seto!" he declared.

Gozaburo thrust his fist in Seto's direction, and shouted, "Now, Battle Ox, ATTACK!"

At its master's command, the armored bull charged towards Seto's face-down monster, cutting into it with its steel-covered Ax.

Seto: 6700

Seto gritted his teeth in pain. He looked to Gozaburo angrily. "I'm not beaten yet, Gozaburo! I won't let you get away with what you've done!!!" he spat.

Gozaburo put on a mock-sad face. "Done? All I've done is save those two poor souls from you." He said.

Realizing Gozaburo was referring to Mokuba and Kisara, Seto looked like he was going to explode on the spot. "BULLSHIT," he shouted, "you're only doing this for power!"

Gozaburo grinned with morbid delight. "Sound like anyone _you _know?" he asked.

Seto's eyes widened for a moment, but they quickly returned to their intense focus. "Don't try that on me, Gozaburo. I'm here to save Mokuba and Kisara. My other goals aren't important here!" the brown-eyed CEO growled.

Laughing, Gozaburo reached into his coat and drew out the sennen rod. "Really? I think there's someone who might disagree!" he cackled, pointing the rod at Seto.

Once again, the rod lit up a bright yellow, enveloping Seto in light. This time, however, it was cold…

When the light dimmed, Seto was standing in the lone spotlight of an entire world of darkness. Looking around, he shouted, "WHATEVER TRICK THIS IS, GOZABURO, IT WON'T WORK!"

Suddenly, he heard a voice, familiar yet distorted to the point that Seto could not recognize it exactly. "Death-T." it said.

Seto tensed. "What…?" he started.

"Death-T," the voice continued, "the death tournament you arranged for Yugi Motou. You say you wish to protect your little brother, yet in the course of this tournament, you almost killed him."

Seto prepared to respond, but the voice simply continued. "When the Big 5 kidnapped you in your own VR game, your blind pride again almost killed Mokuba when you refused to summon your ultimate dragon simply because Yugi asked you to."

Seto nearly blew his top right there, but again, his response was stopped by the mysterious voice. "Let's move back further, though. When you were younger, you designed weapons for Gozaburo, weapons that killed thousands, and continue to kill even more."

Seto at last snapped out. "I don't know who you are, but I'm tired of listening to you judge me!"

Seto could hear dark chortling. "I've made no judgments. I've only pointed out facts. The context of guilt was added by _you_."

Seto scowled. He despised it when people twisted his words, and it didn't help that his current opponent had not yet shown itself. "How sad. You hold all this misery and self-hatred in your heart, yet you can never release it and free yourself." The voice commented.

Seto had finally reached his boiling point. Reaching beyond the light into the endless darkness. He grinned victoriously as he felt his hands clasp a throat. Thrusting his arm back, he prepared to beat the life out of whoever was unfortunate to be mocking him so openly. However, he was so caught off guard by the person he had grabbed that all such thoughts disappeared from his mind, replaced solely with shock. He was staring at Seto Kaiba. "Surprised?" the now-revealed doppelganger asked maliciously.

He was not identical in appearance. For one thing, he was wearing Seto's silver, gold-trimmed suit, the one he had worn at Death-T. For another, his skin was much paler, almost pure white. The most striking difference was that his eyes were a kind of lack-luster gold, while his hair was neon green. "What are you…?" he asked, releasing his grip on the doppelganger.

Dusting himself off, the new Seto laughed. "Don't you recognize me after all of this time? I am your strength, the part of your soul Yugi banished to the shadow realm when he broke your heart at the end of Death-T."

"The one Pegasus used to duel Yugi at Duelist Kingdom…Death Imposter!" Seto summarized quickly.

Death Imposter grinned. "Imposter? That implies I'm a fake, but you and I both know I'm Seto Kaiba just as much as you are."

Seto laughed bitterly. "Nonsense."

"Deny it if you like, but I think it's time you face the truth."

"Try me."

"Oh, it's quite a list, my other. For one thing, the love you're beginning to develop for Kisara…"

"…doesn't exist." Seto finished for his eerie dark side, testily.

"Oh, come on. Just admit it already: She's the only person outside of your little brother who looked at you for who you are. She didn't let your position or your reputation get in her way; she just took the time to know you."

Seto looked at his feet, almost in shame. Death Imposter was right; as much as he was loathe to admit it, he had developed an attraction to Kisara. However, he had learned in the hardest way that love of that nature could only end in suffering. When you trusted others, you were always inevitably let down. For years, he had been able to abide by that law. No one, not Yugi, not Jyounouchi, not even Mokuba, had been able to allow him freedom from that constant presence in his life. Then he met Kisara, and everything began to change. She was not afraid of him, as most people were. She didn't try to change him, or force him into anything, as Yugi and his friends usually did. All she did was sit down and talk to him, as if he were a normal human being. From there, he had slowly begun to open up, without realizing it, because that one act, that one moment of feeling like a person to someone else, had made him feel like he had as a child, open and trusting to the world. Death Imposter grinned. "Your mind is such an open book, Seto…I know all your thoughts and feelings, including what you were just thinking. Still, don't get your hopes up, Romeo: She'll leave you in the end, just like your parents, and everyone else in your life."

Seto looked up in anger. "Mokuba…" he started.

Death Imposter interrupted him. "…is scared of what you've become, and you can't blame him. Your sole purpose in life has become to defeat Yugi Motou, and you fail even at THAT. It's quite the vicious cycle, I must say."

Seto stepped forward, but was overcome by weakness. Falling to his knees, he clutched his head in pain. "What…are you…doing to…me?" he growled.

"Nothing. You're just starting to accept the truth, and it doesn't feel too good, does it?" Death Imposter gloated as he walked to Seto.

"Gozaburo and I had a deal. He'd help me reclaim my body if I gave him the Blue Eyes White Dragon cards…I have little use for those pathetic things, so I agreed. He's helped me re-awaken all the darkness in you that allowed me to thrive before, and now, I think I'll have MY body back…"

Just as Death Imposter reached to grab Seto's neck, however, he was launched backwards by an unseen force. "Now what…?" Seto muttered.

Just then, an old friend stepped into the light, which had now extended over all three people. Seto was surprised to once again see High Priest Seth, his hand out-stretched. "I don't think so…" he said angrily.

Seto got back to his feet, and looked at the two sides of himself that stood before him: Seth, the noble, proud High priest, and Death Imposter, the dark and selfish shadow. That left just himself. Who was he? Was he both? Was he neither? He had never truly looked at his own soul so directly. He could see the parallel between Seth and Death Imposter, but where did that leave him? "Gozaburo was quite foolish to place your soul within the sennen rod; when he used it, both your soul and mine were transferred to Seto." Seth observed to Death Imposter, who simply scowled some more.

Seto looked at Death Imposter disgustedly. He could not imagine he had EVER been like that, but he knew it was a fact, and he knew that some of what Death Imposter was remained within him. Looking to Seth, he knew he had never been so honorable or refined. Seth looked at him. "You really ARE starting to realize the truth, aren't you, Seto? You're more than just my reincarnation, you're more than what Gozaburo made you. You are your own person. That is the path of a true duelist, my descendant. Know yourself, and you can not be stopped. You know who you are."

As Seth and Death Imposter both began to fade away, Seto said, his voice full of confidence, "I AM SETO KAIBA!"

Gozaburo roared in pain and anger as he could feel the power of the sennen rod shatter. Falling backwards from the force of the disconnection, his sennen eye having allowed him to see everything that had occurred in Seto's mind, he growled angrily, "Death Imposter failed me…worthless oaf."

He got back to his feet just in time to see Seto draw a card. As Gozaburo scanned Seto's mind, he was shocked by what he found: _"NOTHING? He hasn't looked at the card yet? But...how…? Why…?"_

Seto held his eyes shut. He DID know who he was now. He was Seto Kaiba, one of the best duelists alive, and connected to his deck in a way few others would ever be. He had seen Yami play his Devil's Sanctuary card at Battle City without looking at it, and now, he would do the same. He would find the path of the true duelist. He would crush the darkness in his heart. He would save Kisara and Mokuba. "Gozaburo," he shouted, "your defeat starts now! I play one card face-down, and summon Peten the Dark Clown in defense mode!"

Peten the Dark Clown

Atk: 600

Def: 1500

Gozaburo blinked in confusion and anger. He didn't know what Seto's plan was, but he did know that Seto didn't know the card he had played either. If he did, Gozaburo would have seen it in his mind. "Nice bluff, son, but it won't work! I attack with Battle Ox now!" Gozaburo shouted.

However, even as Battle Ox's attack cut through Peten, Gozaburo could tell from the grin on Seto's face he had made a big mistake. "Wrong move, step-father! I activate Deck Destruction Virus!"

Gozaburo was shocked. "WHAT? HOW DID YOU KNOW TO USE THAT CARD?" he screamed.

Seto grinned. "Call it ingenuity. As you know, as long as Deck Destruction Virus is on the field, you lose ten cards from the top of your deck every time a dark-attribute monster on my side of the field with 1,000 attack points or less is destroyed!"

At that announcement, Gozaburo could only watch helplessly as ten of his cards disappeared. "I'm not done yet, though, because whenever Peten the Dark Clown is destroyed as a result of battle, I can special summon ANOTHER Peten to the field." Seto continued.

As Seto said, a new Peten appeared on the field in defense mode. Gozaburo's face twisted in rage. This single move had made attacking useless. As long as he attacked, Gozaburo would lose cards, and since Peten could constantly send a new Peten to the field, attacking would destroy Gozaburo's deck. He could no longer read Seto's cards, and Seto had now set up the perfect defense! _"Impossible…I lost control of this duel in just one turn?"_ he thought furiously.

Seto went next. Although he did not look at the card he had drawn, he knew how to play it. He had held Gozaburo off for the time being, but he knew it was only a matter of time before his step-father found a way to strike back. "Now, I'll set one card face-down and summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp in attack mode!" Seto declared.

La-Jinn

Atk: 1800

Def: 1000

Thrusting his hand forward, Seto cried, "La-Jinn, attack Battle Ox now with your fire breath!"

At his master's command, La-Jinn shot a blast of fire that incinerated Gozaburo's monster.

Gozaburo: 14,300

Seto frowned. He knew Gozaburo's high life-points gave him a lot of opportunity to make a counter plan. If Seto was going to win, he had to devastate Gozaburo's life-points quickly. "That's all for now, step-father." Seto said.

Gozaburo was fuming. _"I have to regain control of this duel…but how?"_ For now, no options were available. "I'll summon my Disk Magician in defense mode and end my turn!" Gozaburo said.

Disk Magician

Atk: 1350

Def: 1000

Seto drew. Again averting his eyes from the card, he said, "Now I sacrifice my La-Jinn to summon an even stronger monster, Vampire Lord!"

Vampire Lord

Atk: 2000

Def: 1500

"Now, I'll equip him with the magic card Fairy Meteor Crush, which allows him to do damage even when a monster's in defense mode!" Seto continued confidently.

Gozaburo almost exploded on the spot. "VAMPIRE LORD, ATTACK HIS DISK MAGICIAN NOW!" Seto shouted.

Thus, the purple-caped demon flew towards Gozaburo's monster, its fangs bared for the kill. As Vampire Lord's teeth dug into its neck, Disk Magician exploded into pieces and disappeared.

Gozaburo: 13,300

Seto clenched his fist excitedly. He was starting to really get into the game, and now, he could pull another deadly trick on Gozaburo. "I'm not done yet, step-father, because my Vampire Lord's special ability allows me to select one type of card and forces you to destroy one of that type from your deck, and I choose…"

Here, Seto had to ponder. What would be the best type to declare? Gozaburo had yet to play any good monsters, but he could have a powerhouse waiting in his deck. He hadn't used that many magic cards, but again, Seto knew little about his deck, and whether deadlier magic cards waited for him later. However, he went with his instinct and selected the card type Gozaburo had used most effectively thus far. "I choose trap, meaning you have to send one trap card in your deck to the graveyard, and then shuffle your deck."

Gozaburo grudgingly obliged, sending his Widespread Ruin trap card to the graveyard. "That's all for me, Gozaburo." Seto said.

Gozaburo drew, then grinned maliciously. "You're so sure you've got this in the bag, aren't you, Seto? Well, don't forget that your comeback doesn't change the stats; I've still got a huge lead on you in life-points, and my Life-absorbing machine trap card will help to keep that true."

Even as his villainous step-father began to play a card, Seto knew he was in trouble. Gozaburo's little speech was an obvious warning of danger. "Now I play the magic card Monster Cannon. By paying 2000 life-points, it allows me to automatically destroy one monster on your side of the field, but thanks to Life-absorbing machine, I only need to pay 1000 life points!"

Gozaburo: 12,300

"Now, Monster Cannon, destroy his Vampire Lord now!" Gozaburo shouted.

Suddenly, a large blue dragon carrying a cannon nozzle on his back emerged from the ground. Looking at Vampire Lord, it aimed its nozzle towards the pale-skinned demon, and fired at it. In a burst of flame, Vampire Lord was gone. "Now, I play Remove Trap to destroy your annoying Deck Destruction Virus, and summon Rogue Doll in attack mode to destroy Peten the Dark Clown."

Rogue Doll

Atk: 1600

Def: 1000

Seto could only watch as his Deck Destruction Virus card burst into pieces, followed by Gozaburo's bulbous golden spellcaster smashing his Peten into dust. Although a new Peten again appeared, the virus was gone and did not damage Gozaburo's deck. "So much for your come-back, huh, Seto?" Gozaburo mocked.

Seto, however, did not flinch. As Gozaburo ended his turn, a wooden coffin lying horizontally floated down from the sky. As its creaky door opened, Vampire Lord rose vertically from it, his arms folded, his knees never bending. The fanged prince of darkness leapt out of the coffin, which promptly vanished. Gozaburo was shocked. "WHAT? I just destroyed that monster!" he shouted.

"Sorry, step-father, but Vampire Lord has another special ability. Whenever it's sent to the graveyard by a card's effect, it automatically returns to the field at my next main phase. Now that he's back, I think he's hungry, so I'll let him feed on your Rogue Doll!" Seto boasted.

As it did before, Vampire Lord gleefully sank its fangs into its enemy, reducing it to nothing. "Since it did damage, you have to destroy a card from your deck, and this time, I choose monster!" Seto declared.

Again, Gozaburo removed a card, his Beast of Talwar, and shuffled. "To end my turn, I'll play one card face-down." Seto said.

Malik, Yugi, Jounouchi, and Rashid were completely silent as they sped across Domino in Malik's motorcycle. Malik had explained how Ishizu had foreseen everything that was taking place with the mysteriously restored powers of her Sennen Tauk. He had told them of how, through the use of a dark ritual, Bakura had revived Seto's cruel step-father to steal the souls of the three duelists who controlled the Blue Eyes White Dragons. They now knew Seto was dueling not just for his life, but the lives of Kisara and Mokuba as well. Knowing how Seto's duel with Pegasus had gone, they were not optimistic about his chances. At long last, Jounouchi broke the silence. "Malik…If Ishizu knew all this was coming in advance…why didn't she tell someone?"

Malik sighed. "The future she saw was not pleasant…Seto will lose to Gozaburo, and he will unleash a terrible power upon the world. However, she believed that Seto could change this future, as he did with his duel against Ishizu in Battle City. Because of that, she chose not to tell anyone so that they could not interfere, so that Seto could finally embrace his true power."

Once again, everyone went silent. Seto's chances had just fallen from small to impossible. This time, however, the silence was far shorter. "Then maybe he will…", Yugi said, perking slightly.

Jounouchi grunted. "Don't get your hopes up, Yugi. This is Seto Kaiba we're talking about here. He's so stubborn he'd NEVER be able to accept that something like that even EXISTS, let alone be able to use it." He said, his distaste for Seto clear in his tone.

"Give him some credit, Jou. We've seen that he's capable of great things when he puts his mind to it…he almost beat Pegasus, and as Malik mentioned, he changed the future Ishizu foresaw at Battle City." Yugi said, although his tone indicated even he did not fully believe in what he was saying.

"Well, whatever the results are, we are about to see! We have arrived at the orphanage." Rashid said.

Shortly after Malik stopped the motorcycle, everyone piled out and began running towards the site of what would most likely be Seto Kaiba's final stand. At last, they reached the two dueling Kaibas. "KAIBA!" Yugi cried.

Seto turned, surprised, towards the short young boy. "What? Yugi? How did you...?" he asked.

Gozaburo snorted. "Hmph. So the Pharaoh's here to save you, eh, boy?" he mocked.

This grabbed Seto's attention. "I don't need his help to win, Gozaburo."

Gozaburo ignored Seto's statement, and simply drew a card. Looking at it, he grinned maliciously. "Excellent. This card will be your defeat, Seto! I summon Chaos Necromancer in attack mode!" he cried.

Chaos Necromancer

Atk: 0

Def: 0

Jounouchi, standing at the side-lines, blinked in confusion, even as Seto gritted his teeth in anxiety. "What's the big deal? That thing has no attack or defense points…" he said, obviously trying to figure out how a monster without any points would get such a reaction out of the two duelists.

Gozaburo could only laugh. "Idiot! My Chaos Necromancer gains 300 attack points for every monster in my graveyard, and thanks to my next card, its attack will skyrocket. Behold the magic card, Body Release! This card allows me to send five monsters from my deck or yours to the graveyard, and gives me 100 life-points for each one!"

As five cards flew out of Gozaburo's deck only to land in the graveyard, the Chaos Necromancer grew in size.

Gozaburo: 12, 800

Seto kept his face steady, showing no signs of nervousness. "Behold," Gozaburo laughed, "the true power of Chaos Necromancer!"

Chaos Necromancer

Atk: 2700

Jounouchi gulped as the strange, corpse-like being increased in size. "Now it's strong enough to destroy Seto's Vampire Lord!" Yugi said in distress.

Gozaburo thrust his hand towards Seto. "Chaos Necromancer, attack Seto's Vampire Lord now!" he ordered.

However, even as the undead spellcaster charged at him, Seto grinned. "Reveal, trap card!"

From behind Vampire Lord, Seto's face-down card flipped up. On it was a picture of a strange being in a red robe with two white gloves facing forward. "I activate Reverse Trap, which reverses all attack points gained into attack points lost!" Seto declared.

Gozaburo knew what that meant: The 2700 attack points Chaos Necromancer had gained from its effect would now become attack points it lost from its original attack strength of 0. Shrinking back to its diminutive original size, the bone-covered creature barely had time to scream before Vampire Lord bit into it, turning it to dust.

Gozaburo: 10,800

Seto pumped his hand in excitement. He was doing it! He was turning the duel around! "Now then, it's time to activate Vampire Lord's special ability once again, this time to destroy a trap card!" Seto gloated.

Gozaburo seethed with rage as he removed his Bottomless Trap Hole card from his deck, placing it in his graveyard. "Your turn." Gozaburo said gruffly.

Seto drew, not looking at the card. However, the instant he touched it, he felt familiar warmth. For the briefest of moments, he could see Kisara's face looking at him, with that same innocent smile she had worn only a few hours ago when they had toured Domino. He knew exactly what he held in his hands. "Gozaburo, it's time I finally made you suffer for kidnapping Mokuba and Kisara. You wanted the Blue Eyes White Dragon, step-father? Well, HERE IT IS!" Seto shouted triumphantly.

Suddenly, a great wind began to circle around the two players. Vampire Lord and Peten the Dark Clown turned into balls of light, flying straight up into the sky. "This…" Malik said, awed, "…is the legendary White Dragon…"

Malik had not seen the Blue Eyes White Dragon in person, though, under the possession of his dark side, his body had. Now, however, he was witnessing its coming. As a devout follower of the Egyptian myths of old, it was a truly stunning sight for him. The balls of light that had once been Seto's two monsters pierced the very clouds of the night sky, revealing a pillar of light that struck the field. An ear-slitting roar erupted, echoing across the orphanage grounds. As the pillar of light dimmed, a silhouette began to become visible. At last, in all its silver-scaled glory, stood the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon. Gozaburo's face contorted in fear and anger. "IMPOSSIBLE!!! HOW COULD YOU HAVE GOTTEN THAT CARD WITHOUT MY KNOWING?!?" He shouted furiously.

Seto folded his arms proudly. "You have no monsters to defend you, Gozaburo, so I think I'll attack you directly. Consider each and every life-point you feel burned from your soul proper vengeance for what you've done." He said menacingly.

At its master's order, the silver dragon opened up its sharp-toothed mouth, gathering energy in its mouth. At last, the gathered energy took the shape of a ball, and with that, the blue-eyed beast reared its head back, then thrust its mouth forward, unleashing a titanic wave of electric energy. Gozaburo braced himself for the attack. It was a pointless gesture. Soon, the man was completely engulfed in light, his screams echoing loudly throughout the arena. Though Yugi and Jounouchi flinched at the blood-curdling sound, Seto showed no change in his stone-looking face. For him, this was a moment of revenge that he had waited a decade for. This was his justice. At last, the light dissipated. As the smoke left behind began to clear as well, Seto looked at his disk to see Gozaburo's life-points dropping quickly.

Gozaburo: 7800

Seto grinned almost unnoticeably. Gozaburo's defeat was finally in range. Looking back up at where his step-father once stood, Seto was greeted by a disgusting sight. Where once Gozaburo had stood, there now stood someone else. His flesh was rotted way, looking burned. He had no left eye, though the Sennen Eye still remained where it had been. His body was practically skeletal, but it was mostly covered by a black cape with golden shoulder pads. His hair was like Pegasus', but he had a beard that looked like it could easily have grown from Gozaburo's mustache. Seto could not physically recognize the person before him, but as his new opponent stared at him with rotting teeth baring a hideous smile, he instantly realized who he was truly facing. "Akunadin…" he said, angrily.

**To be Continued…**


	12. Revealations

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: Finally, FINALLY, I'm back on track with updates. My internet's back, schoolwork is lax, and the old writing spark is at full burn. This marks the 12th chapter in our little saga, and that means we're only two chapters away from the end of D&tD. I hope you enjoy our latest entry. Furthermore, as it is rather important, these are the characters' ages, if only for this story:

Seto: 18

Mokuba: 14

Yugi and the gang: 16

Ishizu: 16

Malik: 18

Rashid(yes, he'll appear eventually): 20

Seeing as how the three events I've been listing as having occurred in our story have served their purpose, I've taken them out of the A/N. Just letting you know.

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British). Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on. Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime. This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur. However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world. In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time. Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past. Enjoy.

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 12: Revelations

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

"Akunadin…", Seto hissed.

Where once had stood Seto's cruel step-father now stood the decrepit, skeletal figure of Akunadin, the priest Seto had seen in one of his visions of Ancient Egypt. "I am glad you recognize me, my son…" Akunadin said, his voice an eerie rasp.

Seto cringed at the sound of it. His suspicions about Gozaburo were correct: It was now apparent that he was Akunadin's reincarnation, just as Yugi was to the pharaoh, and Seto was to Seth. He did not know how Gozaburo had transformed into Akunadin, but he didn't care: Regardless of what form his enemy took, he would destroy him. "Please, finish your turn…", Akunadin practically wheezed.

Seto nodded. Playing two cards face down, he ended his turn. Akunadin went then, drawing a card. "I have waited for thousands of years for this day…", he said, gripping the card he had drawn tightly, "…when I may finally claim what is rightfully mine!"

Seto raised an eyebrow in confusion. "How does my Blue Eyes 'rightfully' belong to you…?" he asked.

Akunadin set two cards face down, and answered. "Because it should have been ME who completed the trinity of the White Dragons…I deserved the power you and your little brother possessed…I was your father, after all…", he growled.

Seto noted Akunadin was referring to him as the high priest Seth, rather than differentiating between the two incarnations. Though it did not seem important, it struck Seto as something to keep aware of. "That worthless girl…the girl you chose to rescue…she didn't deserve such a glorious power! It should have been mine, MINE!" Akunadin said, his rotting flesh trembling with each word he squeezed out of his decaying body.

"Even when you had the opportunity to give that power to me, you chose not to…you chose to protect her…rather than give the power of her Kaa to ME, your own father!" he continued to rant.

At these words, Yami took over Yugi's body. "Wait…Akunadin, it was YOU who murdered Kisara and Mokuba, wasn't it?" the ancient pharaoh barked.

It was a statement, not a question. The anxiety Yami had felt when he had dueled Seto-or, more accurately, Seth-about his role in the murder of Seth's family was turning into a boiling rage. He now knew the true culprit, and wished with all his soul to kill on the spot the man who had torn his friendship with Seth asunder. "Of COURSE it was him." A new, familiar voice broke in.

Turning to the voice, Yami-Yugi spotted the source sitting on a swing set in the nearby playground. "Bakura…" he hissed.

"Oh, come on," Bakura laughed, "you didn't really think it was YOU, did you?"

Yami-Yugi growled bitterly. "See, Akunadin over there wasn't all that happy back in Ancient Egypt over the fact that he didn't get the third White Dragon Kaa. As for me, I was a tomb robber in the employ of…someone…for whom the collapse of the Pharaoh's kingdom was quite beneficial. He came to me seeking help in getting the third White Dragon Kaa for himself, seeing as how the person it really belonged to had been found, but was under the protection of his own son. That's when I got this great idea. You see, my employer had a special little object that could make people change their appearance. I gave it to Akunadin, and he used it to trick that idiotic priest into thinking the pharaoh had betrayed him…" Bakura explained in between laughs.

Seto joined Yami-Yugi in glaring daggers at the white-haired thief. However, he was forced back into facing off with Akunadin as the reanimated corpse continued for his ally. "Our plan…succeeded. Your battle…with the pharaoh…gave us the opportunity to…steal the seven sennen items…to unleash…an unstoppable darkness. However…the items…were reclaimed…and…to stop the darkness…the pharaoh…sealed it away with his own soul…inside of the sennen puzzle."

Seto remembered the vision he had on his way to the orphanage. "However, hoping to finally get his vengeance, the high priest sealed HIS soul in the sennen rod so that, when the pharaoh's puzzle was reassembled, the rod would be there ." He finished for the reanimated corpse.

Akunadin nodded. "Bakura…and I…did so…as well. However, to ensure that our plan continued…I transferred…a portion of my soul…into a new body…thousands of years later. That body was Gozaburo Kaiba. When you killed him…everything Bakura and I planned…went wrong…I was unable to retrieve the Sennen eye…and restore my power…and it instead fell into the hands of that fool…Pegasus. Bakura…had to retrieve…the Sennen eye from him…before our plans could continue…and then…we were again sidetracked…by your Battle City Tournament. Now…however…our plans may finally bear fruit. I end…my turn."

Seto began his turn. Even as he drew his card, Yami-Yugi had already made his way to the swing set where Bakura was waiting, lightly swinging back and forth. He could barely contain his anger. What Bakura had done was unforgivable, and with all his soul, Yami wanted to make the tomb robber suffer to the fullest extent. "Bakura…" he said, barely above a whisper.

The tomb-robber looked at him, and grinned. "Well, well, I seem to have struck a nerve. Sorry, but you and I can't fight just yet. I just wanted to drop by and let you know: Once the high priest is out of the way, your Sennen puzzle will be mine!"

With that, Bakura disappeared into shadows, leaving only the echoes of his laugh and an angry pharaoh. "That monster…", Yami growled.

_"Keep calm, Yami.__ We can deal with him some other time. Right now, Seto needs our help, don't you think?" _Yugi comforted.

Begrudgingly, Yami returned to the duel at hand. However, his mind still wandered to the many feelings that stirred within. Some were happy to discover his innocence. Others were angry at what Bakura had done. Finally, there was curiosity. Who was it Bakura was working for? Yami suspected he would find out soon enough, but for now, the question gnawed at his mind. As for Seto, he had just begun his turn, and pondered over his next move. _"I may as well attack, but just to be on the safe side…"_

"I'll set one card face-down, and attack with Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Seto declared. Again, the silver beast gathered energy in its mouth, unleashing it in a rumbling blast.

"Predicatable...I activate…the trap card…Wall of Revealing Light!" Akunadin rasped.

Jounouchi blinked in confusion. "WALL of Revealing Light? I knew about the swords, but what does a wall do?" he asked.

Yami-Yugi answered for him. "Akunadin can pay any multiple of 1000 life-points, and once he does, depending on the amount of points he chooses to sacrifice, he is protected from all attacks with a strength equal to or less than the sacrificed life-points." He said, knowing that Akunadin's Life-Absorbing Machine trap was still in play, meaning Akunadin could pay a hefty amount of life-points without fear.

Seto already knew the effect, and even as Akunadin's life-points dropped by 4000, than rose by 2000, a crystalling-wall formed around the exposed duelist, blocking his Blue Eyes' intense blast.

Akunadin: 5800

Akunadin laughed in delight, a truly horrible noise given his condition. Seto cringed at the sound of it, but in spite of it, managed to smile. "Now, I activate my face-down magic card, Charm of Lamentation!" he announced proudly.

"This card lets me draw a card every time I attack and fail so thanks to you, I can keep drawing cards." Seto said confidently.

Drawing his card, Seto ended his turn. He didn't look at it, but he could feel what it was, and it was not what he needed. _"He's stalling again," _Seto observed, _"waiting for something…but what? I've got to find a way to attack before he gets something good in his hand."_ He noted to himself.

Akunadin went, and drew a card. "Now…I play the magic card…Fissure!" Akunadin said.

As he played the card, a crack began to form on the ground. "Fissure…destroys the weakest face-up monster…you have on the field," Akunadin explained, "but since the White Dragon…is your only monster…even its 3000 attack points…are too low…to avoid it!"

Suddenly, the crack in the ground opened into a full-blown chasm, and extended itself beneath the Blue Eyes. "Kaiba's dragon…!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

"Without it, Kaiba won't stand a chance!" Yugi finished worriedly.

Just as the Blue Eyes began to fall, however, it disappeared in a flash of light. Before the shock of that event could sink in, the silver dragon appeared again in all its glory, hovering safely over the chasm. Having failed to claim its victim, the chasm closed. "What? How?" Akunadin stuttered, confused.

Seto grinned. Pointing to his left, he drew everyone's attention to a titanic, strange-looking cannon. Yugi recognized it instantly. "It's Kaiba's Interdimensional Transport Device! So _that's _what saved his Blue Eyes!" he said, amused.

Akunadin snarled. "I still have…my Wall of Revealing Light…so you can't touch me." He said, ending his turn.

Seto would have laughed at the irony of what had just happened if he didn't need to stay so focused. Akunadin, while still disguised as Gozaburo, had already _known _that the Interdimensional Transport Device was face-down in wait, but Seto's turning the tables on him had made him forget, and he had gotten sloppy. This was a positive sign to Seto that he was slowly but surely turning the duel around. If he could get his remaining two White Dragons, he could clinch the match. However, Gozabruo's Wall was a problem. Seto would need an intensely powerful monster to get through it, and he had only one. _"Let's hope I can summon it in time…"_ he thought.

"My move now," Seto said, drawing, "and I summon the Kaiser Seahorse in defense mode!" he declared.

Kaiser Seahorse

Atk: 1700

Def: 1650

"Now, I'll attack with both of my monsters!" he said.

In unison, the two creatures unleashed their signature attacks. The Blue Eyes blasted its White Lightning from its mouth, while Kaiser Seahorse struck with its two-sided lance. Neither attack penetrated the crystal barrier Akunadin had surrounded himself with, but as the attacks ended, the magic card Seto had played before glowed, indicating its effect was activated. "Thanks to Charm of Lamentation, I can now draw two cards, one for each failed attack." Seto said.

He drew the two cards, and though he did not look at them, he sensed their presence, and knew exactly what to do with them. "Now I set two cards face-down and end my turn." He said.

Akunadin drew and pondered his next move. _"Damn him! My Sennen eye is useless now! I don't know how, but somehow, he's able to sense the cards he's using without looking at them, meaning that I can't read his mind to find out what he has!"_

He looked at his current hand. It was nothing impressive, and he knew it was only a matter of time before Seto found a way to penetrate his Wall of Revealing Light. _"There is a card that can save me, but I'll have to search through my deck to get it. This should help…"_ he thought.

"I activate…the magic card…Reasoning. This card…lets you select a level of One to Twelve. I then…draw cards…until I get a monster. If its level…is equal to the one you chose…I destroy it automatically…but if it isn't…I can special summon it to the field." Akunadin said.

As the magic card activated, a man dressed in a green robe and a white turban on his head appeared next to Akunadin. He pointed his right index at Akunadin's deck, the point of the finger beginning to glow. "Choose." Akunadin growled sharply.

Seto contemplated what number to choose. If he went too low, Akunadin could summon a powerful monster. If he went too high, Akunadin could create a new barrier to his attacks. Either way, he knew the Reasoning card could help Akunadin immensely. "I choose…", he hesitated a moment, than chose to go for the middle ground, "…level six!" he finished.

Akunadin began drawing, and for a few moments, Seto could only watch anxiously as Akunadin filled his hand. Just before he reached the max number of cards he could hold, Akunadin stopped. Grinning wickedly, Akunadin lifted the last drawn card and thrust it onto his duel disk field. "I now summon… Tyrant Dragon… to the field… in attack mode!" he cried triumphantly.

Tyrant Dragon

Atk: 2900

Def: 2500

"And I trigger my trap card, Ring of Destruction!" Seto responded.

As he flipped his face-down card over, a metal collar emerged with a ring of grenades attached to it. Latching itself onto Tyrant Dragon, the collar began to glow. "Once it detonates, my Ring will destroy your Tyrant Dragon and take 2900 life-points from both of us." Seto explained, though he did not mention that his face-down Ring of Defense card would protect him from losing life-points.

However, just as it looked like the Ring would detonate, it stopped glowing. The necklace broke, and the grenades fell uselessly to the ground. "What…?" Seto gasped, confused.

"Tyrant Dragon…can negate any effect…that targets it." Akunadin boasted.

Seto silently cursed. Now Akunadin had an incredible monster on the field, protected by the Wall of Revealing Light, and with his Kaiser Seahorse exposed. "Tyrant Dragon…attack Kaiser Seahorse…now!" Akunadin commanded.

With that, the red-scaled dragon lunged itself forward, grasping Kaiser Seahorse in its firm jaws and biting it in half.

Seto: 5500

Akunadin grinned. He had finally gotten a card that evened things out: Seto couldn't attack Tyrant Dragon, and effects couldn't destroy it either. At last, he had regained control. Keeping it, however, would be difficult. "My move!" Seto said, drawing.

He set a card face-down, and ended his turn. _"Hang on, Kisara…Mokuba…I'm almost there…"_ he thought.

Kisara opened her eyes slowly, but surely. When she did, she saw she was in a strange place. Everything around her was dark. Blotches of purple and red floated around her. "Where…where am I? The last thin I remember was Mokuba showing me the office Seto's step-father used to work in…" she mumbled, still groggy.

Her voice echoed all around the empty darkness. Everything was cold here, and she did not like it one bit. Getting up, Kisara realized how disorienting it felt to stand when there was no apparent ground. Walking around, she cried, "HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE?"

Kisara was beginning to realize this was probably the Shadow Realm Yugi had told her about before. _"So _this _is where all the power of their cards comes from…"_, she thought, eager to get her mind off of the fact that she was alone in a seemingly infinite mass of darkness and cold all alone.

Of course, that wasn't possible, as everywhere she turned she was reminded of it. Wandering around aimlessly, she was quickly becoming more and more afraid. However, she also reminded herself constantly of what was going on: She was part of a centuries-spanning cycle, and to help end it, she had to be strong. _"For Seto…"_ she reassured herself.

That thought only lead to even _more _thinking. Where did she stand with the stoic young CEO? Mokuba was desperate to see she and Seto got together, but Kisara had always believed that love, real love, could not be forced like that. Still, Kisara could easily see Mokuba's point. Though not blatant about it, both had a rather obvious attraction to each other. _"I saw right through Seto's façade. He wants everyone to think he's heartless, but I could tell…I could tell there was someone else deep inside…_" she mused.

Unfortunately, Seto was not willing to admit he had feelings at all, let alone for her. She could understand why. From what Mokuba had told her about Gozaburo, he had been ruthless to Seto. He had taught Seto never to trust anyone, to never openly show his feelings. To do otherwise would be weak, and to survive Gozaburo, Seto had to become strong. It made Kisara sad to think of the Seto she could have known if not for Gozaburo's interference. Mokuba's description of the younger Seto at the orphanage painted a far kinder portrait than the one she knew now. Indeed, that was the Seto she could see beneath the emotional barriers he had set for himself. However, the Seto she knew now _was _kind, in his own way. He was fiercely protective, loyal, and determined. Those traits were not bad to have, particularly with psychotics like Bakura running around. _"Well, there you have it,",_ she thought sarcastically, _"Strong, determined, caring…I'm in love with Seto Kaiba." _

She sighed heavily. Admitting it to herself was one thing. Admitting it to _him _was another matter entirely. Worse, she wondered if he would feel the same, or if he would accept that someone could care for him in such a way. _"Great…Now I've gotten myself nervous again!"_ she grumbled mentally.

As she continued to wander the shadow realm, she realized she was no longer alone. She could hear breathing, light but loud enough to echo across the empty darkness, and she knew it was not her own. The echoing made it impossible to find the source of the breathing, so she just went the direct route. "HELLO?" she shouted, the word reverberating all across the blackness.

"KISARA?" a familiar voice answered back.

_"Mokuba!"_ Kisara realized.

"Mokuba?" she asked, no longer yelling.

"Over here!" the young boy responded.

Kisara ran towards where, as best as she could tell, Mokuba was calling from. At last, she was greeted by the rather pleasant sight of Mokuba, who was ecstatic to see her. "KISARA! You're OK!" he cried happily.

He rushed over to her and hugged her, to Kisar's surprise. She chalked it up to the boy's nervousness. "I'm glad to see you're safe, Mokuba." She said.

Mokuba stepped back a bit, and let Kisara speak. "Do you know how we got here?" she asked.

To her surprise, Mokuba nodded. "Our souls were taken by the Sennen eye, and placed in blank Duel Monsters cards."  
Kisara blinked for a few moments in surprise. She had known Yugi and his friends had been involved with the Shadow Realm before, but she did not know that Mokuba and Seto had seen it as well. "How did you…?" she started, but Mokuba cut her off.

"It happened to me once. Let's leave it at that." He said sharply.

She decided to heed the young boy's advice. She guessed, however, that it had something to do with the previous bearer of the Sennen eye that Yugi had told her about, Pegasus J. Crawford.

"Still…" Mokuba began.

Kisara returned her attention to him. "What?" she asked.

"Well…the last time this happened, I was all alone…even though there were…other souls…that were captured at the time, so why are you and I here together at the same time?" he finished.

Kisara pondered over this. "Good question…" she responded.

Mokuba clasped his hands together, trembling angrily. Kisara realized the situation was probably starting to sink in for the younger Kaiba, and she feared the results. "Someone…someone's using us to get to Seto…AGAIN!!! IT'S NOT FAIR!" Mokuba shouted at last.

Kisara attempted to calm him, but Mokuba was completely engulfed in his anger. "ALL SETO EVER DID WAS TRY TO PROTECT ME…GIVE ME A GOOD LIFE…IT'S NOT FAIR!!!" he roared.

"Mokuba…" Kisara started, attempting again to soothe the enraged youth as best she could.

However, as it often does, anger turned to sadness for Mokuba, and his cries of rage quickly turned into a whimper of sorrow. "He just wanted…to give me a good future…" he sniffled, tears flowing down his face.

"Now…every other day, people try to hurt him because of his position in Kaiba Corp…" he continued.

Kisara put her hand on Mokuba's shoulder, but the young boy was inconsolable. "All this time…all this sadness…he took it all to protect me…" he finished, collapsing into Kisara's arms.

He hugged her like an older sister, his grip tight. Kisara could feel his tears run down her shoulder. "It's my fault…and I wanted…I just wanted to make things better…"

Kisara guessed he was referring to his plan to put her together with Seto. "Instead…I just made things worse…" Mokuba cried softly.

The silver-haired girl did not know what to say. She had no idea how to console this boy. Yet something, a familiar warmth inside of her, told her exactly what to say. "Mokuba…if Seto didn't have you to fight for, he never would have survived this long. You are his inspiration, and he wouldn't be whole without you." She finally spoke.

Mokuba sniffled, calmed slightly by her words. The young boy hadn't thought of things from that angle before. All he could focus on was the anger, the sadness, and the pain that had pervaded so much of his life and Seto's. He knew how strongly he and Seto felt for each other, but somehow, it helped that Kisara was there to reinforce the message. Mokuba realized this was because she understood. Few people, even Yugi, could grasp just how deep the Kaiba brothers' bond ran, but Kisara could. Her kindness, her understanding, was almost natural. Mokuba grinned, the sadness all gone. Now he remembered just why he wanted to see Kisara and Seto together in the first place. "Th…thanks." He said, sniffing shakily.

Kisara smiled warmly. "You're welcome."

Suddenly, a tremendous roar was heard. The whole world seemed to shake with its echo. The noise was so loud Kisara and Mokuba had to shield their ears. Looking around, Mokuba noticed a shape in the distance. "What in the…?" he began, even as the roar's echo faded.

Kisara noticed the figure too, and she also noticed it was coming towards them. As it got closer, she could clearly make out its shape: A dragon! "Mokuba, get behind me…" she warned, though she was unsure how she would protect the younger Kaiba if the beast attacked. However, even as Mokuba followed Kisara's instructions, he recognized the beast. "The Tyrant Dragon card?" he asked, confused.

Kisara looked to him for an explanation. "It's a really powerful creature in Duel Monsters, but I don't understand how it came alive or what it's doing here…" Mokuba replied nervously.

Suddenly, Kisara felt a strange presence speaking to her. _"You are in danger…"_

"Wha…", she gasped.

For a brief moment, she saw the Egyptian version of herself flash before her eyes. In that moment, she felt an entire lifetime pass before her. She saw a white light, flying into the sky and dispersing, falling down to Earth in the shape of cards. After the vision passed, Kisara snapped back to reality, contemplating what it was she had just seen. Her contemplation was cut short, however, when she realized she still had the Tyrant Dragon to worry about. She noticed that the dragon was no longer moving at all, however. "What happened to it?" she asked.

Mokuba shrugged nervously. "You've got me…" he said quietly.

Even though the dragon no longer seemed to pose a threat, the words she had heard still resonated within her. _"You are in danger…"_

Seto growled in frustration as he drew yet another card that could not help him. All his Charm of Lamentation was doing for him was filling his hand up with useless cards. Worse, with Tyrant Dragon on the field, playing other monsters was just a worthless risk. _"Think, Seto, THINK!"_ he demanded, nervous and yet excited.

Akunadin was a worthy challenger, and for Seto, there was no greater feeling than to face a duelist of equal caliber. Still, he could not forget the stakes here, or his burning hatred for his opponent. "I'll set this card face-down, and end my turn." Seto said.

Akunadin went. "I'll end…my turn…" he said.

Seto wanted to scream in rage. Akunadin was toying with him, knowing he was stuck, and he couldn't do anything about it! Drawing in frustration, Seto's mood shifted quickly as he sensed what he had drawn. "I now activate the magic card Remove Trap!"

Seto shouted.

Akunadin's face, though rotted and hard to read, still wore a clear expression of fear. As Seto's card appeared on the field, it released a giant Bear Trap, which launched itself towards Akunadin. The Bear trap shattered the Crystal Wall surrounding Akunadin, and vanished. The terrified Priest looked around himself in anxiety, aware that he was perfectly exposed to attack. "Now it's time to show the Tyrant who the REAL King of Dragons is!" Seto laughed.

Without another word, the mighty Blue Eyes White Dragon that stood by Seto's side opened its mouth and released its trademark White Lightning attack, vaporizing Akunadin's Tyrant Dragon in mere seconds.

Akunadin: 5700

Seto grinned. He had an advantage now, and he intended to push it to the end. "Next, I activate the magic card White Dragon Ritual, sacrificing my Dark Gremlin to summon Paladin of the White Dragon in attack mode!" he declared.

With that, two torches appeared on the field. In the middle of the torches, a pentagram shaped itself, creating a blue flame. From the flame, a serpentine dragon emerged, mounted by a green skinned knight with twin lances. "Next, I activate his special ability, sending it to the graveyard to summon a second Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Seto continued.

As quickly as the paladin appeared, it vanished, transformed into an orb of white light. The orb flew up into the sky, and vanished. Suddenly, a familiar form appeared where the orb had disappeared, and soon, the second Blue Eyes White Dragon tore through the clouds above and landed on the ground next to its kin. "A Blue Eyes summoned by Paladin of the White Dragon can't attack on the same turn it was played, so I'll set one card face down and end my turn." Seto said, confidence returning.

Akunadin went next. "Very well…I will summon…this…face-down in defense mode…" he said.

Seto grinned. Akunadin was cornered. All Seto needed to do was summon a monster and he could end the duel and free Kisara and Mokuba. "OK, I attack your face-down monster with my Blue Eyes White Dragon!" he said, punching his fist towards Akunadin as a signal for his dragon to attack.

It did, and Akunadin's card was flipped up in the blast. However, what was revealed was not good. Briefly after the card was flipped, Seto had seen a group of armored dragons, small and on hind legs. He knew it was the Troop Dragon card, and that it could special summon another Troop Dragon card when destroyed. On cue, a new army of dragons appeared in the place of the destroyed one. Seto attacked with his second Blue Eyes, but the result was the same. His chance to end the duel was gone. _"Only for now,"_ he reminded himself, _"and since there are only 3 copies of a card allowed per deck, this is Akunadin's last Troop Dragon card, so I just have to be patient."_

Akunadin's bony face broke into a hideous grin, exposing his rotting teeth. "Heh…Now…I will show your dragon true power…" he said.

"First…I activate…the magic card…Cost Down…reducing the level of one monster in my hand by two…meaning I only need to sacrifice one monster…to summon…this!" Akunadin said.

The Troop Dragon unit disappeared in a ball of smoke and flame, leaving Seto to wonder what monster Akunadin was summoned. The enormous broad sword he saw glinting in the smoke answered his question. "Buster Blader…", he whispered angrily.

It was a monster Seto was quite familiar with. It had been instrumental to his defeat at the hands of Yugi in the Battle City tournament, thanks to its ability to gain 500 attack points for every dragon on the field. Seto did not doubt Akunadin had put the dragon slayer in his deck to counteract Seto's Blue Eyes cards. Normally, Buster Blader's attack strength was 2600, but with two Blue Eyes on the field, it gained 1000 attack points.

Buster Blader

Atk: 3600

Def: 2300

"Now…attack!" Akunadin commanded.

Buster Blader, now fully revealed in its purple-and-gold armor, followed Akunadin's orders and charged towards Seto's first Blue Eyes, its sword raised. However, even as the enormous blade fell towards its target, it was knocked away by an unseen force. "Sorry, Akunadin, but my Negate Attack trap card ends your battle phase automatically, stopping your Buster Blader from attacking me." Seto explained.

Seto went, drawing his card. Looking at it, he mentally prepared himself. _"Time to take a risk…",_ he thought.

"I'll begin my turn by activating the Deck-master ability of Lord of Dragons!" Seto announced.

From its place by Seto's side, the skeleton-clad spell caster walked forward, arms folded confidently, red cpae flowing behind it. "My Lord of Dragons can allow me to draw three cards by paying half of my life-points. If I draw any dragon cards, they are special summoned to the field. All other cards are destroyed." He continued.

Seto: 2750

Jounouchi slapped himself on the forehead. "Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten all about their deck-masters!" he said, laughing slightly.

Yugi, however, was not as light-hearted. "What is Kaiba doing? Even if he DOES draw a dragon, all he'll do is power-up Akunadin's monster!" he worried.

_"Kaiba's up to something…"_ Yami mentally commented, both as an observation and as a way to calm Yugi down.

Indeed, the Spirit of the Pharaoh was quite interested to see what Kaiba's plan was, as another dragon on the field would only serve to make things worse for him, and even then, the chances of summoning a dragon were slim. Still, he knew from dueling Seto that he always played to win, and this move had a purpose. _"But what purpose is that…?"_ he pondered.

Seto drew once. No dragon. "Foolish boy…you can not win…" Akunadin jeered.

Seto ignored him and drew again. Still no dragon. "Give up…and I will make your death short..." Akunadin continued.

Seto ignored him again. _"Come on…"_ he silently begged as he drew the last card. Sensing the power within it, he grinned widely. "Bingo." Seto said.

"Now, I special summon the third and final Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Seto cried triumphantly.

Even as the pillar of light that had done so before signaled the arrival of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, Akunadin laughed as 500 more attack points were added to Buster Blader, making it even stronger. "Fool…you have failed…" he laughed, sounding like gravel scraped against metal.

Seto grinned. "I think not; I activate the magic card Delta Attacker!" Seto said, confidence etched in his features. "This powerful magic card only works when there are three of the same monsters on the field, and its effect allows me to attack you directly with each one!" he finished explaining.

Within the confines of the Sennen puzzle, Yami couldn't help but grin. As always, Seto had taken a gamble of faith, and as always, it had paid off. Akunadin, meanwhile, was stewing. Moving his bony right arm to shield his eyes from the radiant light that was slowly emerging from the mouths of the Blue Eyes White Dragons, he just barely had time to activate his trap card. As he did, the Blue Eyes trio lurched forward in unison, releasing three waves of pulsating electricity that stormed towards the ancient Priest. However, just as they were about to violently collide with Akunadin, Buster Blader appeared directly in front of its master, and was destroyed in his place. "I activated…my Soul Harvest…trap card. It negates attacks…by sacrificing one monster on the field…and taking 500 lifepoints from me." Akunadin said.

Seto smiled. "Fine. Just remember, I still have three Blue Eyes on the field, and you just sacrificed your best chance at beating them."

Akunadin did not wish to admit it, but Seto was right. There was only one card he could use to win now. Drawing from his deck, Akunadin could only grin and thank the Dark God that had given him new life at his good fortune. "I do believe…I've grown tired of this…game…" he said, spitting the last word out as if to mock his opponent, "so…it's time I play…my secret weapon! Come forth!" he barked.

Seto braced himself as a radiant light appeared in front of Akunadin. He didn't know what could be so powerful to defeat three Blue Eyes without sacrifice, but he knew Akunadin wouldn't make such a big deal out of it if the card he played couldn't do what the re-animated corpse of a man said it could. As the light settled, however, and he saw just what Akunadin had played, he quickly lost whatever composure he had.

Standing before Akunadin, her arms crossed in defensive position, eyes blank and cold, was Kisara.

**To be Continued…**


	13. The Dragon of Destiny

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: Here we go! With only one chapter left to wrap things up, everything is going to come to a head soon! There's not much to say beyond the standard, so I just want to mention two things: This story ignores that the Yu-gi-oh! Movie ever occurred (and so does the Japanese Anime and Manga), so keep that in mind. Why? When the time comes, you'll understand. Also, this is where I'll be using some made-up cards. See if you can tell the fake cards from the real ones. Furthermore, as it is rather important, these are the characters' ages, if only for this story:

Seto: 18

Mokuba: 14

Yugi and the gang: 16

Ishizu: 16

Malik: 18

Rashid: 20

Seeing as how the three events I've been listing as having occurred in our story have served their purpose, I've taken them out of the A/N. Just letting you know.

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British). Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on. Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime. This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur. However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world. In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time. Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past. Enjoy.

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Chapter 13: The Dragon of Destiny

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

Kisara

Atk: 0

Def: 0

Seto refused to believe it. Standing in front of him, acting as a monster in defense mode for his opponent, was Kisara. Seto had once overheard Jounouchi and Yugi discussing how, during Duelist Kingdom, Bakura had sealed their souls away in the Flame Swordsman and Dark Magician cards, and thus, they became part of the game. This, however, seemed different. For one thing, Akunadin was directly using a blank card that contained Kisara's soul. For another, Jounouchi and Yugi had apparently been able to remember who they were. Kisara showed no signs of even being alive. "What…what did you DO to her?" Seto asked threateningly, his voice a low snarl.

Akunadin did not respond at first. He was enjoying watching Seto, who only moments ago had been grinning confidently, twist and turn at the sight of Kisara turned against him. He was even more entertained by the sight of the three Blue Eyes White Dragons, the mightiest of all dragons, looking curiously at their mistress, confused at her presence beside their enemy. Still, after basking in his success for a moment, the ancient priest finally answered. "Her soul card…was added to my deck…in the event that I could not defeat you by brute power." He explained.

"Rather…than transfer her soul…to a normal Duel Monsters card…and risk her… regaining control of her soul on the field…I used her soul card…directly…I hope…you are pleased…with the results?" he continued.

Seto gritted his teeth in rage. Akunadin would NOT cheat his way to victory! Seto simply would NOT allow it. Gritting his teeth, he drew a card. Already, he was attempting to figure out how to get Kisara off the field without attacking her; he didn't know nor did he want to find out what would happen if she were sent to the graveyard. Akunadin decided to interrupt Seto's thoughts. "What…are you…waiting for…Seto? I have…only one monster…to defend myself…and no face-down cards. Attack…and you win the duel…" he said, smugness dripping in every word he spoke.

Seto clutched his fist in rage. "_I will_ not _allow_ _that shambling mass of bones and rotten flesh to mock _ME! _I'll show him! I _will _attack! I _will _win! I have no reason to worry about Kisara's life! I only met her yesterday! What does it matter to me if she lives or dies?"_ he argued to himself.

However, he quickly shook such thoughts from his mind. That was the OLD Seto thinking, caught up in the need to win the duel. He would not risk Kisara's life, no matter the circumstances. He was loathe to admit it, but he felt…connected to the silver-haired girl. Indeed, if he understood the visions of his ancient past correctly, she had been his lover once, long ago. Seto did not like his life being dictated by destiny, or the events of so long ago, but he chose, at least for the time, to ignore such animosity. "I'll end my turn." He said, flatly.

Akunadin chortled. "Emotion…is weakness. Surely…my time as your Step-father…taught you that." He wheezed.

Seto snorted, but remained calm. "Don't get cocky, old man. You may have a good shield, but you don't have a sword. Sooner or later, I'll find a way to get Kisara out of this, and then, you'll have three Blue Eyes waiting to tear you to ribbons." He said.

"I have…nothing…to fear." Akunadin responded.

Seto simply gritted his teeth and drew. This was going nowhere. Worse, under Kisara's unforgiving glare, his focus had begun to falter. To see her like this…used, unable to control herself…it brought forth feelings of anger, sadness, and disappointment. He had promised he would protect her. He had promised to protect Mokuba. He had failed at both. This was his own fault for not being there, for letting Ishizu and Seth and Bakura and Akunadin and all the other Ancient Egyptian psychopaths manipulate him for their own purposes. Now, Kisara and Mokuba were suffering for his mistakes. He had no doubt Akunadin had Mokuba's soul card in his deck as well, and he also had no doubt that the insane zombie had every intention of playing it. _"Somehow…I have to save them…"_ he thought.

Yugi clenched his fists from the sidelines. "I wish there was something we could do…" he said, frustrated.

Jounouchi nodded. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really hope Kaiba beats this guy!" he said, even as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment for supporting his chief antagonist.

Malik folded his arms in contemplation. "Still, it is a difficult situation," he said, "as I doubt Seto wants to hurt Kisara. However, if he doesn't get her off the field, he can't get to Akunadin's lifepoints."

Rashid remained silent. All four continued to watch, their thoughts solely on the match. Seto ended his turn again, passing it off to Akunadin. The dark priest drew, and once more, dark glee lit his features. "I activate…the magic card…Altar of Mists…" He said.

Seto recognized the card instantly. Even as the field became surrounded by rock statues similar to those found at the famous Stone Henge, he remembered its deadly effect: After being on the field for three turns, it allowed its user to take any Ritual Magic card, as well as its corresponding Ritual Monster card, and add them both to the player's hand. _"Akunadin must have a powerful Ritual Monster to attack with, and since I can't attack, he'll be able to get it on the field soon!"_ Seto thought anxiously.

Akunadin ended his turn. As he drew, Seto had to think quickly to win. It seemed like all hope was lost, though. What could he do? What possible strategy was there to get Kisara off the field without hurting her? The truth, Seto knew, was that there was no way. Duel Monsters was designed with the destruction of enemy monsters at its very core. As such, practically no card in the game had the ability to return a monster to the deck or hand, and even then, Seto's deck had always been about full-frontal assault. He wouldn't have any cards of that nature in his deck to begin with. Seto needed an alternative method of reaching Akunadin's lifepoints. As he drew, he sensed he had found that method.

"I activate a magic card of my own, Retreat to the Shelter!" he said.

"This card allows me to attack you directly as long as the only monster you have on the field has less than 500 attack points." He explained.

Seto grinned slightly. He vaguely remembered Mokuba giving him the card after Duelist Kingdom, saying it might help if he ever needed to take on Kuriboh again. At the time, Seto had scoffed at it. If not for the grim situation at hand, he would have laughed at the poetic irony. As it stood, however, he now had a tremendous opportunity. Unfortunately, the card forced him to skip his battle phase for the turn it was activated, so Seto ended his move. With that, Seto set a card and ended his turn, waiting for his chance to strike.

It was Akunadin's turn now. He drew, and Seto immediately realized from the wretched look on Akunadin's face that he was in trouble. Laughing manically, Akunadin played the card he drew. "Now…I activate…Time Warp Forward!" he announced.

Suddenly, the stone ruins around the field began to glow brighter and brighter. "What's going on?" Seto asked demandingly.

"The Time Warp card…allows me to speed up…time-delayed effects…" Akunadin started.

"Like Altar of Mists!" Jounouchi finished in excitement and fear.

"Correct!" Akunadin said.

"Now…through the power of Altar of Mists… I activate the ritual magic card…CONTRACT WITH THE DARK MASTER!" he shouted, raising his hands to the air.

"Oh, no…" Malik whispered fearfully.

_"I sense…a terrible darkness…"_ Yami warned Yugi.

"Look at the sky!" Jounouchi and Rashi shouted in unison.

Everyone's eyes turned upwards. "Now…Disk Magician…and Dark Assailant…tribute your energies to summon the ultimate darkness!" Akunadin said.

As the two monsters he called upon disappeared from his hand, Akunadin became surrounded by a dark purple aura. Storm clouds gathered above them. Lightning split the skies, followed by deafening thunder. Winds began to pick up, buffeting Seto until he could barely stand. "What…have you…done?" Seto shouted, shielding his face from the storm.

Just as he asked, the storm clouds opened up, and a column of blackest energy stormed downwards, cracking the ground between Seto and Akunadin. Suddenly, the cracks in the ground spewed fire and magma. The fires soon parted, and then, a terrible beast stepped forward. The sight of it filled even the stoic Seto with fear. Its body looked human; it was muscular, and its skin was slightly red. It wore skin-tight purple pants, and gold, jeweled boots. From there, however, any similarity to a human being ended. For one thing, two purple bones were jutting horizontally out of its shoulders. For another, it had blood-red bat wings on its back, and held a strange sword that somewhat resembled an enlarged, elongated bee-stinger. Lastly, its face looked like that of a bat, with wild green hair on its back, and horns pointing out of it in various places. "I GIVE YOU…", Akunadin cried, his voice filled with unholy glee, "THE DARK MASTER…ZORC!"

Dark Master Zorc

Atk: 2700

Def: 1500

Jounouchi uncovered his eyes now that the spectacle of the demon's arrival was over, and saw its holograpically-projected statistics. "Huh? What's the big deal? It's weaker than all three of Kaiba's Blue Eyes…" he said.

Yami, who had taken control of Yugi's body the instant he had sensed the terrible power Akunadin was summoning, was quick to disagree. "Its attack strength is lower, but this card carries a far greater strength than any of the Blue Eyes…" he said, anxiety permeating his every word.

Malik gulped fearfully. He knew from legend that this card represented the Earthly messenger of the terrible being who, thousands of years ago, had laid waste to Ancient Egypt. He also knew that it carried vast destructive powers. Most importantly, however, he knew that its presence here hinted at a larger danger than the one being immediately dealt with. He knew it meant the time of destiny was at hand. Seto, in the mean time, was far more concerned with the threat he was facing now. The terrifying demon that stood before him was said to be the most deadly Ritual Monster in the game. Though he had never learned just how it earned its reputation, he feared he was going to learn now. Akunadin, for his part, was laughing manically. "THE GAME…IS MINE!" he shrieked.

Clenching his fists, he shouted "NOW, ZORC…ACTIVATE YOUR SPECIAL ABILITY AND TAKE THE POWER I DESERVE!"

The demon stepped forward, opening his hand to reveal a six-sided die. The die was blood red, and cracks ran on its sides. Where dots were used to represent the number of the side for normal dice, Zorc's die had instead a corresponding number of small flames. Zorc closed his hand again. "The roll of fate." It hissed through its fangs, dropping the dice to the ground.

Malik's eyes widened as he realized the powers at work through the dice. "OH NO!" he shouted.

"What is it, Master Malik?" Rashid asked, nervous for the safety of his foster brother.

"The Roll of fate…no matter what number comes up on that dice, Kaiba is in deep trouble." Malik said, visibly trembling.

"What do you mean?" Yami Yugi asked edgily.

"If the dice lands on a 1 or a 2, all of Kaiba's monsters are destroyed, while if it lands on a 3, 4, or 5, one monster on Kaiba's side of the field is destroyed. If it lands on a 6, all of Akunadin's monsters will be destroyed…but that means…" Malik began to explain.

He was unable to finish as Seto, who had overheard their conversation, interjected fearfully. "KISARA!" he shouted.

For a brief moment, Kisara's eyes gleamed with their usual light, but it was gone quickly, and she soon resumed her statuesque stillness. The dice dropped to the ground, hitting it with a silent thud, though to Seto it was louder than an earthquake. The dice bounced again, flipping around as it did so. Seto anxiously waited to see what number it landed on. At last, the dice stopped. Zorc looked at it, than straight at Seto. "One." He hissed.

For a moment, only silence remained. Though nothing was yet occurring, the Blue Eyes trio had visibly tensed, their lips curled back in preparation for battle. Then, the ground began to tremble. "W…what's going on?" Jounouchi asked, waving his arms to keep standing in the earthquake.

Out of nowhere, the ground split open, separating into five pieces: One for Seto, one for the Blue Eyes, one for Akunadin, one for Zorc and Kisara, and one for Yugi and the others. The space that separated them looked like the insides of a volcano, filled with bubbling magma. Soon, the magma bubbles began to grow larger. Suddenly, without warning, a titanic hand, covered in purple scales and with clawed fingers, burst from the magma, grabbing all three White Dragons in one swoop. It began to pull them down to the magma, even as the dragons struggled and roared defiantly. "ACTIVATE TRAP!" Seto shouted.

The three Blue Eyes turned into wisps of smoke, slipping through the fingers of the giant hand even as it became submerged in lava again. Jounouchi couldn't help but sigh in relief as the ground reassembled. Seto wiped sweat from his forehead; he had almost lost all three of his dragons. Thankfully, his trap card, Dragon Totem, had made his dragons immune to all effects for one turn, saving them. Now, he could eliminate Akunadin once and for all.

Akunadin, however, was not worried. "Fine…then I will end my turn…by equipping my Dark Master…with the Axe of Despair…raising its attack strength to 3700! Now…I can destroy your dragons…one by one!" he snarled defiantly.

Seto breathed deeply. He was stuck; Akunadin's Dark Master was now strong enough to destroy his Blue Eyes White Dragons, meaning he could no longer stand idle. However, he also didn't have anything in his hand that could destroy the titanic demon that stood before him. Suddenly, he heard a voice. _"The light of our souls…joined as one…"_

Seto knew the voice instantly. _"K…Kisara…?"_ he thought.

He didn't know what was going on, but at least now he had a plan, and he knew one thing for sure: He had to believe in his deck now. "I activate the magic card, Pot of Greed, to draw two more cards from my deck." He said.

At his command, a large green pot, with a grinning face etched onto its front, appeared on the field. From it, a pair of pale hands emerged, each holding a card. They placed the two cards in Seto's hand, and then disappeared along with the Pot. Seto sensed the cards, and knew that the time for action was now. If he was unable to successfully pull off his next move, he knew he would lose his only chance to save Kisara. "First, I play one card face-down. Next, I activate Lullaby of Obedience, which allows me to take one card from your deck and add it to my hand at the cost of 1000 lifepoints!" he announced.

Seto: 1750

As the card emerged on the field, a single card slipped out of Akunadin's deck, and flew into Seto's hand. "I chose Mokuba's Soul Card!" he announced, showing the card to Akunadin.

Yami Yugi grinned. "Clever move. Now Seto can focus his efforts on saving Kisara." He observed.

"Now…", Seto shouted, "I activate the power of Polymerization, to fuse my three Blue Eyes White Dragons into one being!"

_"The light of our souls…Me, Kisara, and Mokuba…one for each White Dragon…joined as one…"_ he thought.

The three White Dragons reacted to the presence of the new magic by flying into the sky. As they did, they began to transform into pure light. Each beam of light flew off in a separate direction, eventually converging together into one spot, creating a ball of energy as bright as the sun. The winds kicked up fiercely, and everyone could feel the world trembling. "I SUMMON…", Seto shouted, staring directly at Akunadin, "THE BLUE EYES ULTIMATE DRAGON!"

At last, the orb of light disappeared, breaking almost like an egg into a thousand pieces, which faded away shortly. From the orb emerged a truly titanic being. It looked similar to a Blue Eyes White Dragon, but with several key differences. The first was that most of its features were more jagged, and its size was greater. The second, and more important, was that it had three heads. Spreading its enormous wings, the newly formed Ultimate Dragon flew towards the ground, landing in front of Seto. It roared proudly and strongly.

Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon

Atk: 4500

Def: 3800

Seto pointed at Akunadin, and commanded, "Now, Ultimate Dragon, Neutron Blast Attack! Destroy Dark Master Zorc!"

The three-headed giant obeyed, as each head opened its mouth to reveal a powerful orb of electricity. The heads aligned with each other, combining their three orbs into one, and then unleashing a single concentrated blast of tremendous energy. Though the Dark Master attempted to resist the attack, it did not take long before he was reduced to ashes.

Akunadin: 4900

Seto grinned in satisfaction. Akunadin was finally showing signs of nervousness; with his trap still in play, it wouldn't take long for Seto to wipe Akunadin out with direct attacks. Mokuba was safe in his hand, and Kisara was no longer in danger. Victory was very close. "It's…my…move…" Akunadin said.

He drew. "Now…I move…my deck-master…to the field…" he said.

Seto was confused. The Possessed Dark Spirit Akunadin was using as his deck-master had a strong enough deck-master ability, but its attack and defense were low. Why would Akunadin bring it out and risk losing the duel? "Next…I activate...the magic card…Ritual of Second Birth…allowing me to bring back one ritual monster from my graveyard!" Akunadin said.

Seto knew what that meant. Sure enough, as a white vortex opened up next to Akunadin's deck-master, the Dark Master Zorc emerged from it. "Finally…I will fuse my two beasts together…with my own Polymerization card!" he said.

Seto's eyes widened. He was going to make a new Deck-Master, and with a very potent combination! "Now…I give birth…to Dark Spirit of the Underworld!" Akunadin cried in triumph.

With those words, an unholy transformation was begun. The Possessed Dark Spirit flew onto Zorc, engulfing him in flames. The two beings writhed together in seeming agony, growing in size as they did. When at last they were finished, they stood at equal height to Seto's Ultimate Dragon. They had fully fused. Zorc was the dominant one in terms of physical appearance. He still had the bat-like face, though now its eyes burned an even more intense shade of red. It still had the same body shape. However, everything else was different. Where once there had been skin, there was now only burning red flames. In certain spots, the skeleton of the demon could be seen, scorched to black. The wings had grown as well, more like those of a demon than a bat, and the sword had changed as well. Now, it looked more like a twisted scimitar. "I CREATE…DEMON SPIRIT OF ZORC!" Akunadin cried.

Demon Spirit of Zorc

Atk: 4500

Def: 3000

"Now…I activate his deck-master ability...Blaze Tempest!" Akunadin said.

The fiery monster opened its burning hand, and from its palm, a wave of fire blasted forward, circling around the Ultimate Dragon. As the three-headed titan roared in pain, Seto could only watch. Suddenly, he too felt as if a fire was burning around him. Falling to his knees, he screamed in pure agony. "KAIB!" Yami Yugi cried out in concern.

"What…what's happening…?" Seto managed to ask between howls of pain.

"It is…my deck-master's special ability. With it…I can reduce your precious dragon's attack points to 0, and take 500 life-points from you for every 2000 attack points it loses…at the cost of 2000 of my own points…though Life-Absorbing Machine…halves the cost." Akunadin explained, sadistically enjoying watching Seto writhe and burn.

Akunadin: 3900

Seto: 750

"Not good…" Yami Yugi muttered silently.

"My deck-master's ability…forces me to skip my battle-phase…but next turn…it's over, Seto. It will finally…be over!" Akunadin laughed harshly.

Seto struggled to get up, but found that he couldn't. His shoulders ached, his legs were sore, his whole body felt exhausted, and his mind was tired. He had expended all his efforts. He had done all he could do. He had come so close. Ultimately, however, he had failed. "Yes…you failed, my son." Akunadin hissed, reading Seto's mind with the Sennen Eye.

"You failed…because you broke all the rules…I taught you as your Father. You lost…because you chose weak emotions…over true power. Do not worry, however…for soon…I will strip you of your weakness…and the rest of your soul as well!" he finished, laughing cruelly as he did.

Seto collapsed to the ground, unable to stand any longer. Falling on his back, he could only lie there and breath deeply. _"Get up…"_ he thought. _"GET UP!"_

He could not. No matter how hard he tried, his body was simply too beaten to stand. _"NO!"_ he thought angrily. _"I can't…I can't fail again…like I did with Pegasus...Mokuba…Kisara…I CAN'T!"_

He gritted his teeth, and again tried to stand in vain. He didn't even have enough energy to pound his fists into the ground in anger. No matter how much he didn't want to admit it, Seto was broken. His body was too weak to move, his mind could no longer think up an efficient counter-strategy, and he couldn't DO anything about it. _"Why…why can't I…find my way even when I have something…someone…to fight for?" _he mentally asked to no one in particular, simultaneously hoping Akunadin's damned eye hadn't picked up on the thought.

When they had fought at Battle City, Yugi had told Seto that the one way to unlock his true potential and find the way of the True Duelist was to open his heart, and rid it of the hatred he had held for his step-father which he had carried so long. He thought that accepting his feelings for Kisara had done that, but it seemed even now he was chained to his hatred. _"I should've known. I never should have let my guard down…let myself believe, even for a little bit, that something that good could ever happen to me…"_ he thought sadly.

_"Don't say that, ni-san!"_ a familiar voice ringed in Seto's mind.

Seto's eyes widened in shock. He was in a strange place now, a familiar place, where darkness was in every corner. Once more, he was in the Shadow Realm. He had been here only once, when his soul had been trapped by Pegasus, but how he had gotten there again, he did not know. _"You can't give up now, ni-san…you're so closed."_ The voice spoke again.

"M…Mokuba?" Seto called aloud.

Seto was quick to note that he was standing again, and did not feel the fatigue of his injuries. Still, he had figured that logic would be thrown out the window the instant he realized he was in the Shadow Realm, so he paid it little mind. Just then, Mokuba appeared right in front of Seto, simultaneously surprising and relieving the elder Kaiba. "Please, Seto…don't give up!" the small raven-haired boy pleaded.

Seto wanted to respond, to say something, ANYTHING. No words came to him, however. He did not want to let his little brother down, but at the same time, he wasn't going to lie to him either. Before he could say anything, however, Mokuba again spoke. "You can still win, Seto, if you try!"

The young boy moved to his brother, who kneeled to the ground so the two could stand level. Mokuba gave Seto a hug, holding tightly to his brother. Seto returned the gesture, feeling great and familiar warmth coursing through him. For a brief moment, he closed his eyes in comfort. When he opened them, he found he was no longer holding onto anything. Mokuba had vanished, and in his place floated a bright blue ball of light. Seto quickly stood up in shock. The ball followed, moving so as to remain floating in front of his chest. _"The light of our souls…"_ Seto thought.

Seto heard a loud roar of pain come from behind him, and turned around to find the source. There, he found his Ultimate Dragon, collapsed on its stomach. The three heads of the beast each growled lowly, struggling to breath. Seto walked to his monster in concern, when he noticed someone already gently stroking the creature's middle head. When he saw the person had long, silver hair, he instantly knew who it was. "K…Kisara?" he asked.

Sure enough, when the Ultimate Dragon's companion turned to face Seto, he was indeed faced with Kisara. However, it was not the Kisara of the present day. It was the Kisara of Ancient Egypt, the one he had seen in Seth's memories when they dueled Yami. "Ah, we finally meet." She said sweetly.

"How are you here?" Seto asked, unable to think of anything else to say.

"My soul is bound to the White Dragon's. As long as it lives, so will I." she answered, still stroking the three-headed version of the dragon she spoke of.

"However, my body is another matter. It died at the hands of Akunadin," she said, sadly, "and reincarnated into this modern era like all the others involved in the tragedy of Ancient Egypt. The separation of soul and body is why there are two of us at once."

Seto nodded in understanding, but he still had questions. "Tell me…was it you who's been sending me memories of Ancient Egypt through the Blue Eyes cards?" he asked.

She nodded. "My soul is bound to them, but it is harder to communicate through the White Dragon cards than the Sennen Items, so I could only send my messages to you intermittently." She explained.

She looked at Seto longingly, her mouth a forlorn frown. "You look so much like him…but you're not." She said, sadly.

The brown-haired boy didn't need to think too hard to realize she was referring to the High Priest Seth. "Still…you deserve a chance at happiness…" Kisara said, her optimistic demeanor returning.

Seto noticed that the small ball of light that had once been Mokuba was still following him, as if waiting for something. "I believe there is someone who wants to see you…" Kisara said. "I can allow our souls to switch places, but only for a short while…"

Before Seto could ask what she meant, Kisara's clothes began to change. No longer wearing the pale gray robes of her Ancient Egyptian self, she had switched to Kisara's modern day clothes: A sleeveless silver shirt, tan jeans, and a blue bandanna around her left arm. Her eyes were closed tightly, and she had a serene smile on her face. Seto was slightly awestruck; she was surrounded by shimmering light, and looked for all intents and purposes like an angel. For once, Seto had nothing to say. He just stood there, looking at her, and bathing in the warmth of her light. Just as he was becoming relaxed, however, Kisara's eyes opened, and the light vanished. Seto snapped out of his reverie immediately, mentally berating himself for allowing himself to get distracted. "Hi, Seto." Kisara said.

Seto stood at rapt attention, nodding to indicate he had heard her. She smiled, laughing a bit. "Verbal communication isn't your strong suit…" she said, smiling.

The smile quickly vanished, however. "I'm sorry, Seto." She said sadly.

This was enough to warrant Seto to speak to her. "Sorry? For what?"

"For dragging you back into this…For 5000 years, you managed to keep out of this ancient battle…and then I come along and make you a part of it again…"

Seto shook his head vehemently. "I've ALWAYS been a part of it, no matter how much I like to think otherwise." He admitted, to himself as much as to her.

"You have nothing to apologize for." He said.

"If anything, I should be apologizing to YOU. This…all of this…stems from my arrogance. Priest Seth and I…we think alike…and if it had been ME all those years ago, I would have done the same thing. Jumping to his rash conclusions got you killed, and started this whole damned cycle." Seto said.

Kisara's bright smile returned. "How 'bout we kiss and make up?" she joked.

Seto's face darkened, to Kisara's surprise. "Kisara…I…Look, I know you feel…attracted to me, but…"

He looked away from her. This was going to be hard, he knew. For one as experienced as he was at controlling his emotions, it shouldn't have been. Of course, Kisara had changed him. "We…don't really have a relationship. We've only known each other for a day or so…everything else is memories of someone else's life. I don't know about you, but that's not the relationship I want…" he said, his voice controlled but sad.

Kisara, much to Seto's complete shock, began laughing. "What's so funny?" he barked, angry at how lightly she was taking this.

"Seto…you've changed a lot in the short time since we met, but you're still the same in a lot of ways." She said.

"Don't you understand? It's like you said before: You and I are so alike to our Egyptian ancestors…what they felt then, we would've felt too." She explained.

"It's still the same THING!" Seto shouted, starting to get angry.

Kisara remained bright. "It doesn't have to be. Just because it's based on what came before doesn't mean we can't build something of our own. Seto, the connection we made…it's not just what existed before…it's something else, and it's all ours." She said happily. "I understand that now."

Seto took that in for a moment, and mulled it over. It was true; he had trusted her because she had been willing to trust him. It had nothing to do with his dreams; if anything, based on them, he would have kept his distance. Could it be true that HE, Seto Kaiba, NOT the High Priest, had fallen in love with this girl, a Kisara connected to the one of the past but still her own person?

"The light of our souls is all that matters, Seto. The connection we've made is eternal." Kisara said.

At that, Seto looked to the floating orb of light, and for a brief moment, he could see Mokuba again, nodding happily. Turning back to Kisara, he could see Kisara slowly changing back to her Egyptian self. "Sorry…but I've gotta go, Seto. You saved Mokuba, but my soul is still bound to Akunadin's deck. I can still give you this, though…"

And as the change was completed, she too left behind a ball of glowing blue light, as Mokuba had. With that, the Ancient Egyptian Kisara returned. The ball of light floated towards Seto. "The light of our souls…the legend is coming true." She said happily.

"I don't understand…I brought the Blue Eyes together…I already fulfilled the legend!" Seto said, his voice filled with bluster as he tried to cover his inner thinking.

If Kisara caught on, she didn't show it. "You joined their bodies, Seto, not their souls. No card or spell can do that." She explained.

"Only you can."

With those words, Seto saw an orb of blue light like the other two emerge from his chest. He stared at it, and realized that, without even knowing it, he had willed it into being. This orb was made by his understanding, by acceptance. He loved Kisara. He loved his family. He would fight to free them. That was all that mattered. The Kisara of his time had shown him that. Only with that acceptance had he been able to produce this light. "The light of our souls…" Seto repeated again.

Kisara nodded. Suddenly, everything around Seto began to disappear, but as his view faded to black, he could see Mokuba and Kisara standing next to him, orbs in front of them, holding their hands out and touching Seto's orb. He could feel a warm energy forming in his hands, and then, everything turned to darkness. "KAIBA! GET UP!" a familiar voice intruded upon the black.

Seto's eyes snapped open. He was back at the Duel, still lying on his back. He turned his head to see Yami Yugi, fists clenched pensively, calling his name. Seto grinned. It was now a bit easier to picture the Pharaoh and the High Priest as friends now. Remembering he still had a duel to win, Seto struggled to get up. He was surprised to find it was no struggle at all; the fatigue and pain he had felt before had all but vanished. _"Kisara…Mokuba…"_ he thought, grinning.

Akunadin, however, was not grinning. He had fully expected his son to remain down, and this sudden rebirth had him worried. He sensed a great energy pulsating from his enemy, and he knew it could only mean trouble. "Kaiba!" Yami Yugi called excitedly upon seeing the Kaiba Corp. CEO get back on his feet.

Seto grinned confidently. "I'm not down just yet, Akunadin!" he shouted. "Your Dark Spirit is going down!" he finished, giving a thumbs-down sign to his ancient Father.

Akunadin grunted derisively. "Bah! Your only monster…is too weak…to attack…and you only have one card in your hand! What could you…_possibly_…do?" he asked mockingly, although Seto could tell from Akunadin's tone that his foe was nervous.

Seto looked at the one card in his hand. It had no picture or description; where those features would normally be, there was simply a shining silver light glowing warmly. He smiled, and somehow, knew what to do. "The time is now! Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, TRANSFORM!" Seto shouted.

Everyone looked to the field in anticipation. As they did, they could see the Ultimate Dragon had risen back to its full height. Cracks began to appear all over its body, from which silver light seeped forth. With a proud and mighty roar, the Ultimate Dragon took to the sky. The cracks became more numerous as it did. When at last it had reached the sky, the Ultimate Dragon gave a final roar. With that, the cracks moved together, breaking the Ultimate Dragon into a thousand pieces. "What the…? Kaiba just destroyed his best monster!" Jounouchi shouted in confusion.

However, he quickly swallowed his words. In place of the Ultimate Dragon, a new form floated. All that could be seen were a pair of strangely shaped wings wrapped together like a cocoon. "This is the power of our souls together!" Seto said excitedly. "This is the BLUE EYES SHINING DRAGON!"

At the call of its name, the beast emerged. Its wings unfolded to a truly unusual but undeniably imposing monster. Its body, legs, and tail looked like more angular, metallic versions of the normal Blue Eyes White Dragon, save that it had no arms. In their place were a pair of large, glider-like wings. Its head looked like a Blue Eyes White Dragon wearing a long, three-pronged crown, and with a shorter neck. The most noticeable feature, however, were the many blue crystals on the beast's knees, wings, chest, and forehead. They shined with the same silver light that had been seen so many times accompanying the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

Atk: 3000

Def: 2500

Akunadin sweated slightly, but scoffed at the shining beast. "Bah! Its attack strength is too low to defeat my Dark Spirit!" he said.

Seto smiled. "Is that so? Well, I think you may reconsider when you learn that my Shining Dragon gets an additional 300 attack points for every dragon in my graveyard!" Seto said, his old confidence returning in force.

Jounouchi blinked in confusion. "Hold on…I've never heard of that card before, so how does Kaiba know how to use it?" he asked.

Yami Yugi grinned. "He's opening the road of the true duelist…" he said.

"With my three Blue Eyes White Dragons, my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, my Luster Dragon, and my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave, that gives my Shining Dragon a total of 4800 attack points!" Seto said, triumphantly.

Malik grinned. "And by the rules of his own shadow game, when Akunadin's deck-master is destroyed, he loses the duel automatically. How fitting."

"Now, Shining Dragon, attack Dark Spirit of the Underworld with Soul Light Blast!" Seto commanded.

The dragon obeyed, opening its mouth. The jewels on its body began to glow, as all five shot beams of energy that focused at the creature's mouth into an ever-growing ball. The souls of Seto's monsters could be seen circling the dragon, giving it its power. At last, the attack was ready. With a deafening CRACK, the dragon unleashed its fury. However, Akunadin reacted surprisingly happy. "FOOL! MY DECK-MASTER…CAN USE HIS POWER…AT ANY TIME! YOU'VE SEALED…YOUR OWN FATE! DARK SPIRIT…FINISH HIM….WITH BLAZE TEMPEST!"

At its master's command, the walking tower of fire unleashed its blazing attack. Cutting through the ray of light, it began to surround the dragon in a bubble of fire. However, just as the fire closed in on its prey, the Shining Dragon let loose a defiant roar, and its gems glowed again. This time, they created a bubble of light around the dragon, pushing the fire away. With a single flap of its tremendous wings, the dragon blew the flames away, dispersing them harmlessly around the field. Akunadin's eye sockets (for he no longer had any actual eyes in them) twitched fearfully, causing flakes of eons-dead skin to fall off. "Wh…what…is this? Your creature…is unaffected by the Tempest?" he questioned, unbelieving.

Seto smirked arrogantly. "Oops. Did I forget to mention Blue Eyes Shining Dragon is invulnerable to all effects, be they magic, trap, monster…or deck-master?" he asked smugly.

Akunadin did not have time to reply. The Shining Dragon resumed its attack, and this time, it went through uninterrupted. The blast of light looked almost like a lightning bolt, bobbing and weaving its way to its target. Hitting the Dark Spirit square in the chest, the blast tore straight through the spirit. The hole it left behind soon grew to consume the entire monstrosity. In a scream of rage and an explosion of fire, the Dark Spirit vanished from the field. Now, it was Akunadin's turn. "This…cannot be! Destiny…chose me!" he screamed in rage.

With those final words, Akunadin was reduced to ashes, leaving only the Sennen Eye and his duel disk behind. Seto practically collapsed on his knees in excitement: It was over! He had won! He had beaten destiny again, and he had freed himself from his past. He looked to the mighty Shining Dragon, without which he would have lost. "Thank you." He said, simply.

The dragon nodded slightly, before vanishing. In its place floated three orbs of white light. Soon, they too disappeared. Seto looked at Mokuba's soul card, still in his hand, and Kisara's soul card, still on Akunadin's duel disk. Picking up Kisara's card, Seto placed it in his hand next to Mokuba's card. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but WAY TO FREAKIN' GO, KAIBA!" Jounouchi shouted, jumping for joy.

For once, Seto did not make an angry retort. He only made a slight grin. Rashid bowed solemnly. "That's his way of saying 'good job', and it's a sentiment I share with him." Malik said, bowing as well.

Yami Yugi walked up to the victorious Seto, his face lit with a smile. He didn't say anything. He simply held out his hand and waited. For a moment that felt far longer than it actually was, the two old rivals simply stared at each other. Then, at last, Seto met Yami Yugi's hand with his own, and shook it. However, as the shake ended, he said, "Don't think this means I'm done trying to beat you, Yugi."

Yami Yugi smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Seto. The drive to duel is part of what makes us champions." He responded.

Seto smiled, then walked over to where the Sennen eye lay. As he reached to pick it up, a new hand beat him to it. Following the arm up to its body, Seto found himself looking eye to soulless eye with Shadi. "What do YOU want?" Seto asked, remembering that he had seen this person when Bakura attacked him earlier at Domino Square.

"I have come here for this stolen item." He replied dully.

Seto and Shadi stood up together, Shadi holding the Sennen eye tightly, Seto's eyes focused intently on the new arrival. "You can have the damned thing. I have no need for it. Before you take it, though…" Seto said, and then held out the two soul cards, "restore these two lost souls to their bodies."

Shadi bowed. "As you wish, High Priest." He said.

Pointing the Sennen Eye at the two cards, Shadi began chanting in ancient Egyptian. Seto was too tired to bother listening to what was being said, but took notice when the two cards began to glow. With a flash, two beams of light flew from the cards and towards the building where Seto had played the fateful game of Chess with Gozaburo so long ago. Without a word to anyone, Seto rushed past Shadi to the building. "Please be OK…" he said to no one in particular.

He ran to the building, opening the door, and continued to run inside. "MOKUBA? KISARA? ARE YOU IN HERE?" He shouted.

Looking around desperately, Seto stumbled around in the dark room. It was still night time, and the room had no lights. "…ni-san…?" he heard a voice say, weakly.

Immediately, Seto tracked the source of the voice with the focus only a concerned brother could muster, and at last, came to the just-awakening form of his little brother Mokuba, lying on the floor near the other side of the room. Seto propped the young boy up on the nearby wall, and hugged him tightly. "Seto…what's going on?" Mokuba asked, confused.

Seto just tightened his hug. Mokuba, his memory beginning of what had happened returning, hugged his older brother back just as tightly. "I knew you could do it, Seto…" he said, tears welling in his eyes.

Seto smiled. "Where's Kisara?" he asked gently.

Mokuba reluctantly let go of Seto and stood up. Stretching slightly, he pointed behind Seto. Turning in the direction Mokuba pointed, he saw Kisara lying limply on the ground. Even as he moved towards her, he could sense something was wrong. She should have already woken up, like Mokuba had. Instead, she simply lay there. As he got closer to her, Seto's mind raced: Her card had still been on the field when he had won the duel. Could that mean that, by failing to take her off the field when he won, he had destroyed her soul without realizing it? Seto refused to believe he had come this far just to fail now. "Seto…?" Mokuba said, warily. "Is she…?"

Seto put a hand up to silence his brother. Kneeling down to Kisara's still form, he placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her lightly. There was no reaction. For a brief moment, Seto remembered seeing the Egyptian Kisara, lying in a pool of her own blood, dead in his ancient self's arms. Shaking that out of his head, he called her name lightly. "Kisara…?" he said, tentatively.

For a moment, there was still nothing. Despite his best efforts, fear was beginning to grip at Seto's heart. He couldn't lose her. Not now! They had come so close, taught each other so much. "It can't…", Seto said. "It can't end like this…"

He felt something odd in his eyes. It was an eerily familiar feeling, one that he had not known for over ten years. Seto was crying. For all his efforts, he could not stop it. The sadness inside of him at the apparent loss of Kisara burned too deeply to hide or ignore. He held her in his arms and cried. An entire life-time of tears that had waited to be shed were at last released. Mokuba was, to say the least, stunned. He had never seen his big, strong, emotionless brother break down like this. "I can't…" Seto sobbed.

"Kisara," he said, regaining a little of his composure, "please…don't die. You were right. You…me…it could work. It would take time, I know…but I swear, I'm willing to try for you…for us…for our family."

With that, his tears finished, and he stopped talking. He simply held her in his arms. Mokuba simply stood behind him, looking at the floor forlornly. This was how it was for a moment. Suddenly, however, something changed. Seto felt something. Holding onto Kisara's body, he could feel it growing warmer. His eyes lit up as he felt it, and he looked at Kisara's face, waiting and hoping. To his utter delight, her eyes opened. Her blue eyes looked at his as the first thing they saw. "OK, Seto…", she said, her voice a little hoarse, "I'll give it a try."

**To Be Concluded…**


	14. Epilogue: The Light of Our Souls

Destiny and the Dragon

Author's note: Well, it's finally here. The final chapter of our little story is ready, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I've got some more stories in the works, so check the Sonic the Hedgehog section soon. Right now, I'd like to give a shout-out to all the people who've stuck with this story from start to finish. Luna, Princess of the Shadows: You always had an enthusiastic comment to make, and, as far as I can tell, reviewed almost every chapter. Just mentioning, Serenity being Kisara's reincarnation, while sensible in a lot of ways, is purely speculation. Dark Dragon Mage: I'm glad to see you could make it to the party! I hope work on your own story goes well. Moonlit Haze: I really do appreciate all the nice things you had to say about my writing. Reading your reviews always makes me smile. Now, at last, it is time to bring this story to its conclusion. Or is it…?

Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).

Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British). Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on. Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime. This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur. However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world. In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time. Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past. Enjoy.

_I want to run away,_

_I want to know the truth_

_I want to know the answers,_

_I want to shut the door and open up my mind._

"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park

Epilogue: The Light of Our Souls

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

Just as Kisara managed to stand up, supporting herself on Seto's shoulder, Yugi and the others entered the building. Seto was quick to note the absence of Shadi, but he could care less what the mysterious Egyptian did with himself, so he didn't bother to mention it. Jounouchi was quick to note the position Kisara and Seto were in but, for once, chose to keep quiet and let the pair have their moment. Malik, however, was not as sensitive. "So…what do we do now?" he asked.

Seto shot a glare at Malik, but answered, "Ryou is still out there. Until we find him and stop whatever it is he's up to, I think it'd be best if Kisara continued to stay with me and Mokuba."

Malik nodded, but Jounouchi and Mokuba were silently snickering. Seto didn't feel like bothering to silence them. Kisara at last stood on her own two legs and said, "That sounds like a good plan…although I will need to get the stuff from my old home first."

Seto nodded. Yugi, who had reverted back to normal now that the duel was over, piped in. "That's great! Oh, uh, Kaiba…by the way, if you don't mind…when you go to Kisara's old house, would you give us a ride to the Kame game shop?" he asked.

Seto grinned slightly. "Sure, why not?" he muttered.

Jounouchi practically fainted on the spot. Mokuba smiled proudly, and Yugi just grinned. Malik and Rashi turned to leave. "In that case," Malik said, "you won't be needing our help in getting home, so we'll go to ours and tell Ishizu the good news."

He and Rashid exited the building, and shortly after, those still inside could hear the revving of their motorcycle, and after that, the sound of their driving off. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go home!" Mokuba said enthusiastically.

Yugi and Jounouchi stood in front of the Kame game shop waving goodbye as Seto's limo drove off towards his own mansion. Seto and Kisara had already gathered Kisara's belongings and were quite prepared to head home. Yugi smiled. "Well, that turned out nicely." He said in his usual optimistic manner.

_"Agreed.__ Kaiba is quickly becoming a true duelist."_ Yami said, eagerly anticipating the next time he and Seto would duel.

Jounouchi, unaware of Yami's comment, folded his arms and grinned goofily. "Yeah…I guess…Kaiba's a jerk, but even HE deserves a happy ending."

"Some things never change…" Yugi laughed as he and Jounouchi entered the shop.

Honda and Anzu were there waiting, and happily greeted their friends as they entered. After the duel with Kaiba at Domino Square, they had lost track of Yugi and Jounouchi, and had decided to head back to the Game Shop and wait for them. Honda practically bowled Jounouchi over in a big bear hug, eventually putting his friend in a noogie. "Hey, ya big lug! We were worried sick about you! Where were you?" he asked, both angry and happy.

Jounouchi was too busy laughing at his friend's behavior to answer. As for Anzu, she had literally picked Yugi up off the ground and was holding him tightly. To Yugi's unintentional delight, she was squeezing him face-first into her chest. Anzu was either too excited to notice or had done so on purpose, because she did not seem to care. "Oh, Yugi! You had me…us…really scared!" she cried, correcting herself mid-sentence.

Reluctantly, Yugi squirmed out of her grasp. "Thanks for your concern, Anzu." He said, blushing wildly.

Yami mentally laughed at his partner's inexperience with the opposite gender. However, despite the happy atmosphere, Yami felt concerned. Yugi sensed it immediately. _"What's wrong, partner?"_ he asked, trying to calm down after his brush with Anzu. _"Everything worked out; Seto destroyed Akunadin, Kisara is safe, and the whole ordeal is over!"_

Yami, however, was not so optimistic. _"That is exactly the problem, Yugi. It _isn't_ over. We still don't know who it is who hired Bakura to frame me in Ancient __Egypt__, and we haven't used the Egyptian God cards to restore my memory yet."_

_ "Oh", _Yugi replied, _"I forgot."_

Yami remained stern. _"I fear that this is only the beginning, Yugi…the worst has yet to come…"_

Bakura silently cursed to himself, standing alone on the top of Domino High School. He had lost both the Sennen Eye and the Sennen rod, and Akunadin was destroyed in the process. Bakura had never much cared for the priest, so it was no loss on his part. Still, he suspected his master would be none too pleased to learn of the casualty. It would be dawn soon, and when that time arrived, he would have to relinquish control of this body back to its natural host, so as to avoid suspicion on the part of his school. Until then, he was content to stew over his defeat. He had hoped Akunadin would do his job; the three White Dragons would have been a valuable asset in the coming battle, and having them on the enemy's side meant trouble for Bakura and his allies. It was at that time that one such ally appeared behind Bakura. He was a tall, muscular man with light blond hair that spiked upwards and curved around his ears. He wore a black leather coat, biker gloves, and sunglasses. "Raphael." Bakura greeted, grumpily.

The large man grunted in response. "The Master is growing impatient. We've assembled the game company as a front for our operations, so we're ready to begin attacking in full force now. The attack will begin in three days. Until then, be sure the Pharaoh does not successfully use the Egyptian God Cards to open the gate to the Memory World. That is all the Master wants you to know." He said.

Bakura nodded. With that, Raphael bounded off the rooftop to another nearby building, and slowly continued to do so until he was gone from view. Bakura clenched his fists in anger; he should have been able to do his job before the time for the full attack was ready! He knew that the Master would not be pleased with his failure to procure the Sennen items before the attack began, and that meant the payment he received for all his troubles would be deducted accordingly. He snorted indignantly. Still, he had time to make up for it, and he swore on the spot that, no matter what, he would obtain all the remaining Sennen items. He just wished he had more time.

Seto opened the door to his mansion slowly, allowing Kisara and Mokuba to enter first. For her part, Kisara was awed by the sheer size of the Kaiba home. "Wow," she said, "and I thought you were being nice when you let me stay at your _business _building…"

Seto chuckled at her reaction, turned on the lights, and closed the door. Mokuba collapsed on the nearest couch. "Man, after all that, I'm exhausted." He sighed, flopping into a lying position.

Seto reached into his coat, muttered "You hardly did anything…", and pulled out the Sennen Rod.

He wasn't sure exactly how it had gotten there, but seeing as how he had felt it immediately after awakening from his battle with Death Imposter, he assumed it had something to do with Akunadin using it on him. How it got there wasn't important to him, however. What WAS important was giving its sole inhabitant a second chance. "What are you doing, Seto?" Kisara asked.

Seto took the three Blue Eyes cards out of his pocket, and placed them on a nearby table. "Really, _really _hoping this works." He answered, pointing the rod at the cards.

Seto had never used a Sennen item before. When he had made contact with the Sennen rod in the past, its actions were all beyond his control, whether it was sending him the vision of Kisara's death at the Battle City tournament, or allowing Seth's soul to possess his body. Now, it was time to use the item by his own power. With no better idea of how to operate it, Seto simply held tight, and thought long and hard about activating it. To his restrained delight, it worked. The rod glowed brightly, and the Blue Eyes cards acted similarly. Involuntarily, Kisara walked over to the table the cards were on. Seto noticed it, but quickly figured out the cause, and continued to will the rod's powers to work. At last, he received the results he wanted. From the rod, the spirit of Seth materialized, while Kisara's spirit emerged from the three Blue Eyes cards. For a moment, the two spirits looked at their new surroundings, but their roaming eyes quickly found each other. "Wha…" they both gasped simultaneously.

Seto grinned amusedly. Seth turned his eyes to his modern-day form. "You…did this?" he said.

"I owed you." Seto responded dryly. "You saved me from Death Imposter, and I always re-pay my debts. Now, go on. You two have a lot of catching up to do." He answered, ending in a chuckle.

At the same time as Seth and Seto were talking, the two Kisaras had also begun to talk. "So…I guess it was you who sent me those visions?" the modern Kisara asked.

Her Egyptian self nodded. "I had to help as much as I could, even if it didn't amount to much."

The modern Kisara smiled. "It was enough."

Suddenly, a white light emerged out of nowhere. Only Seth and the Ancient Kisara could see it, but the others in the room could feel it. Seth, realizing what it was, extended his hand to Kisara. "Shall we?" he asked, politely.

Kisara smiled, and took his hand. "Why, Seth, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you loved me."

Seth could only chuckle silently as he and Kisara stepped into the light, and vanished. Seto was the first to notice the spirits' representations disappear. "I was right." He said. "Bringing those two back together allowed their souls to move on."

Kisara grinned. She walked up to Seto, but as she did, he put the Sennen Rod down next to the Blue Eyes cards, and walked away. Mokuba, who was far too tired from mental strain to take notice of anything which had happened previously, sat straight up at Seto's callous action. "Seto…", Kisara started, sounding disappointed and curious.

Seto continued walking, removing his large white duster as he did, and throwing it on top of Mokuba without really noticing. "Look…", Seto said. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but this relationship isn't going to be easy."

He stopped walking. "I can't just flick a switch and change who I am. It's going to…take time for this to work." He said, almost melancholy.

Kisara smiled. "I can wait." She said.

She again moved to Seto. This time, he did not move away from her. He knew that Kisara was more than willing to try and make their love work, and he had to be too. Thus, he turned around to face her. At the same time, Mokuba had just gotten Seto's duster off of him. When he turned to yell at his older brother, the shout died in his throat. Seto was standing there with Kisara. The two hugged one another tightly and affectionately. The raven-haired boy reached into Seto's pocket, pulled out a camera, and sniggered silently as he took multiple snap-shots and planned on what to do with them.

Seto either did not notice the rapid clicking sounds, or did not care. For the time being, he simply held Kisara, and felt happy. It was a hard-earned happiness, but it was one he was determined to make last. Still, he knew this was, in no way, the end of his battle. It was only…

**The Beginning**


End file.
